A Twist In My Story
by New-Perspective22
Summary: "Love is like the wind. You can't see it, but you can sure feel it." Kim loves Jared, but soon realizes he will never feel the same. But then he comes back to school, and her world is suddenly flipped from normal to anything but it.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! This is my first story ever, i hope you like it! Please read it, and review it! Also, i do not own anything of Twilight, Stephanie Meyer always will, thanks !!

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I'm sitting in math class, staring out the square window. I sighed, and my heart feels like it's not there, like it's broken. That's probably because it is. It _is_ gone, and it _is _broken. Just thinking about him makes my cheeks boil, causing me much discomfort while I'm sitting here, and when I'm supposed to be doing my math quiz. But lately, I haven't been able to concentrate. I don't think I can even function properly without him here.

_ He _has been in every single class of mine since the sixth grade. We never really even noticed each other until eighth grade. Well that's not true. I didn't realize he existed until the eighth grade. He, on the other hand, still hasn't noticed me, and we are both now juniors in high school. But I don't blame him for not noticing me because no one ever does. I'm just plain, old, boring me.

Me, as in Kim. Kim Connweller. I have lived in La Push my whole life, and I doubt I will ever come back here as soon as I'm in college. I live with my mom and dad, and my favorite person in the whole world, besides _Him_ of course, John, is far away at college. John is my older brother, and he left me here to rot two years ago. He still calls every so often, but I miss him like crazy. Not as much as _Him_, but enough to make me go a little more psycho each day.

And now we come to the question in all of your heads, who is this _He_? He is only the most beautiful, funniest, and most kind person you will ever meet. Everything about him is perfect, from his body, all the way to the finest details of his eyes. And yes, I would know this because I like him, a lot. On certain occasions I have begun to think that I love him, and the more I tell myself this, the more I believe it will happen. It being me and him, him and me. Jared Nahl. Even thinking about him made my stomach flutter.

I look down to my math quiz, and the only thing written on the page is a heart with K.C.+J.N. inside it. I thought of how our names sounded so perfect together. But that's just me, crazy and love struck Kim. _Pathetic. _I hear the voice in the back of my mind say, so I clear my mind and try to focus on finishing this test. _You can't do this anymore, it's not healthy. _You don't think I know that? I try every single day to get over this stupid and unhealthy obsession, but I've grown to need it, need him, just almost as much as my lungs require air in order for me to breathe. _Just don't do this now, think about it later. _I tell myself, and shake my head to focus on math.

* * *

As I walk to my locker, looking down at the floor the whole way, I notice a pair of feet standing in front of my locker. My heartbeat starts to pick up, but then I notice the old, worn down shoes as my best friends. Correction, my only friend. I look up at her, and attempt a smile. She glares at me because she knows me too well to believe the fake smile.

"Kim, I swear to God, you **NEED** to get over him!" She grabs both of my shoulders and shakes my body, and of course, all of my books fall out of my hands, all thanks to her.

As I'm picking up my books, I say, "Trust me Sarah, I've tried. _I can't_. Especially now 'cause he's been gone for almost two weeks. I sit at home thinking to myself that today is going to be the day that I get over him, and become me. But then I come to school and see that he's not here, and my heart sinks back into the state it was in the day before." I sigh the same heartbroken sigh, and move towards my locker to put my books away. As soon as they're all in there I slam it shut, blowing the wind into Sarah's face. This makes me frown because she is probably the prettiest girl in the entire school. She is one of the few caucasian girls that the Council allowed to come to school on the Rez. She had long, blonde hair and big blue eyes. But she was more shy than me when it came to people, so on her first day here, after two periods, word had gotten around to the school that she was boring, so no one tried. No one, except me.

"Really, Kim? Whatever, I have to go home and babysit Matthew, so just call me later, kay?" She didn't even wait for my response 'cause she knew I had nothing better to do but than to call her later that night. I started to walk towards my beat-up car, when someone stuck their foot out and tripped me. I landed on my hands and knees, scraping every possible surface on them that's possible. I looked up to see who had done it this time, and to no surprise, it was Paul.

Let's just say Paul and I weren't the best of friends. Honestly, we were the furthest thing from friends. He hated me it seemed, but I have no idea why because the only thing I have ever said to him was "Yes" when he asked last year in history to borrow a pencil. I guess that's what I get when I'm a nobody. People just pick on you because they think nothing of you, and that you will feel nothing or say nothing back to them. Which, in my case, is always true. I've learned from past experiences to just ignore all of the jerks in my school.

But as I picked up my purse and walked away from Paul, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be part of the "popular" crowd. Jared was part of it. But that's not the only reason I thought of this, although it is the biggest reason. What if, instead of being shy and quiet Kim, I was a more confident and prettier Kim? Maybe a Kim that Jared would like, or even love me like I loved him. And as I knew they would, the tears rolled down my cheeks as I was pretty much running away from Paul, away from my school, away from the life that I wish I could change.


	2. Chapter 2

Again, I don't own Twilight. Read and Review, thanks!

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As soon as I got to my car, I drove to the one place where I could be alone. I tried to hold in my tears until I got there, but I couldn't help but let them overflow out of my eyes. And then I pulled my car off of the road and onto an unmarked dirt path, and before long, I was in my sanctuary. It was a beautiful, little patch of the beach that no one really knew existed. I did though, and knowing that no one would ever come here but me, it was the perfect place to escape my life.

I flicked my flip-flops off, and ran down the hill and sat on top of a log. At first, I tried to remember why I was here because my thoughts were so wrapped up in Jared. But once I remembered, the tears streamed down my face. _Why are you such a dork, Kim? _There is that stupid voice again. I DO NOT KNOW. I was annoyed with myself for letting myself think that I could possibly be popular in a different life because the truth is, I would never **ever **break out of my shell and not be shy.

Once I had shed my tears about me being a loser, my mind wondered off to Jared, like it was accustomed to. _He will never love you Kim. Get over it. _How many times did I have to tell myself that I have tried, and I can't get over him? I feel like we're meant to be because every time I look at him, I get those butterflies that everyone talks about in the movies. And my cheeks turn red when he sees me looking at him, but he wouldn't know why. He probably sees me as a freak who has no life. Which is very true.

A cold breeze whipped at my tear stained face, so I decided to suck it up for now and make my way home. When I got in my car, I blasted the radio and dreaded what I would do when I actually got home. I had no homework, and nothing else to do. _You have no life._ Yes, I know this, thank you very much.

After the very short ride, I pulled into the driveway of my house. My mom's car was there also, but my dad's wasn't. _Thank God_. I love my dad, trust me, but at times, he can be very...overprotective? No, the right word is controlling. He controls every aspect of my life, from my grades to my dating status, although he doesn't have a lot to worry about in that department.

As soon as the door was open, my mom flew at me with her normal round of questions.

"Kim, where were you? School got out more than an hour ago." Had it really been an hour? Wow, that's probably the longest I've ever stayed at my beach.

"I had a project I had to do research on so I just stayed at school. And yes, I did finish it, so don't worry." I looked up to see her face was plastered with that fake smile. She had her make-up the same as every other day, fake and beautiful. That's why I don't bother with myself every morning, I don't ever want to look like that.

"Good, that's the little Kimmy I raised," she patted my head and laughed. Only God knows how much I hate that laugh. "But Kim, I need to talk to you on a serious note, so do you mind sitting in the living room?" I didn't answer, so she pulled my arm towards the couch. As I plopped myself down and sank into the couch, she sat in the chair across from me with her perfect posture. She didn't say anything, she probably didn't even blink because she's made of plastic.

Of course, she was the first one to break the silence. "Kim...I know this may sound a little mean, but I've been thinking lately. We need to do something about your...your_ image._" She said image as if she was disgusted with me, her own daughter. Is that even possible? "I mean, I don't think you even try in the morning. And your father and I have tried very hard to earn everything that we have. You have plenty of beautiful clothes in your closet that probably still have the tags on them. I have to start making an effort in order for you to cooperate with me. So, I'll be picking out your clothes from now on, and maybe in a while I will let you have that privilege back. But as of now, do you understand my predicaments?" She flashed me that same fake smile, while I sat here with my mouth open. Was I five-years-old again, or did she just want to kill me?

I couldn't respond, what am I supposed to say to her? _Tell her what you really think Kim._ But what do I think? I think...oh God. I know. She's doing this for her, not the family or for me. It's all for her. She doesn't want her image to be ruined because of me. What a lovely and caring mother I have. _Tell her, Kim. Do it now._ I opened my mouth to say what I think, but I stopped myself, and bite my lip.

She looked at me with her eyebrows raised, so I know that I have to make my decision, and fast. "I...I...uh...yeah, I get it. Thanks for caring about me mom. I have homework, call me down when dinners done." I lied to her like I always do, and ran up the stairs to my room.

I slammed to door, and slid down it to think about what just happened. _STUPID! I told you to say something! That was your one chance! _SHUT UP! I didn't like arguing with the voice in my head, it always seemed to be right, but I never listened. Then, my phone rang and I jumped. I laughed at myself as I ran to pick it up. At least I'm lucky enough to have my own phone line. That way, the fake Barbie or the overprotective dad couldn't listen into my conversations. At least they trusted me that much.

"Hello?" I asked this as a question, but I had a pretty good idea as to who it was anyway.

"Jeez, why didn't you call me? You said you would, so I've been sitting here waiting. And after a while, you didn't call, so I called you,"Sarah complained. I could feel her pout coming from the other side of my phone. She always was a complainer. Not a very attractive quality, but I still love her for it.

"Yeah sorry, I just...something happened after you left me at school, so I was upset, and yeah..." I didn't need to keep explaining, she knew what happened.

"Was it Paul?" I didn't answer, I couldn't. The tears started to from in my eyes, and I shook my head. As if she could see me, she said "Oh come on! Again?! I can't believe him! How could he constantly do this to you?! Kim, are you still there? Are you O.K.?" She sounded very concerned, and for her sake, I wiped the tears away and sniffled.

"Sarah, I'm fine. Really. All he did was trip me and I landed on my hands and knees. The only thing that really upset me was what happened afterward." She didn't reply, she was waiting for my response. I sighed, I would have to tell her eventually, she's the only one who ever listens to me. "I just, I was thinking...and I don't know, Sarah. Why can't I be good enough for him? Is it because I'm not popular, or not pretty enough?"

"Kim, you know what I'm going to say. You ARE pretty enough, you ARE good enough. He just doesn't see it. So what if you're not the most popular girl in school? That shouldn't change anything. And Kim, I've told you this before. If he doesn't notice you, then you shouldn't bother with him. I'm sure there are plenty of men that would kill for you, Kim. You're beautiful and funny and smart and-"

"I get it Sarah, thanks," I sniffled again. I'm not the best person in these situations. "If you want me to, I'll try to get over him. But I honestly can't promise you anything, really. Don't count on it to work out."

"Thank you Kim. Now, how was your day, minus the whole Paul thing?" This is one of the reasons why I love Sarah, she didn't drag things out like most of the girls in out school.

"Oh, I have a funny story for you. You wanna hear it?" I asked, even though I already knew her answer.

"Yes! Please! Don't leave out any details." Sarah said, almost begging me. She loved gossip, unlike me. I'd rather just blend in with everyone without getting on anyone's bad side.

"O.K., so when I got home today, my mom pulls me into the living room to talk. Then she says that both of parents have worked hard for all that we have and blah, blah. So, from now on, in order to appreciate every thing we have, she's picking out my outfits for school. Am I five now? I think, no, I know it's all for her image, not for our family at all."

I heard her gasp, and all I could do was laugh. After a minute of me laughing, she was still speechless. "O.K., Sarah? Your scaring me..."

"Why would she do that to you? Is she trying to torture you?!" I laughed again, my stomach was starting to hurt. Nothing was even funny, I guess I was laughing this one off instead of crying like I usually do.

"That's what I said! Anyway, how was your day?" I asked her. She probably had some new gossip that I could pretend to listen to.

"Wonderful. Did you hear about Mike and Katie?" I honestly already had, but for her, I didn't answer. That way she would think I hadn't and she could tell me all about it, and I could pretend to listen and think about Jared.

"Oh my! O.K., so the other day at a party-" she continued to talk, but I zoned out. I began thinking about his hair. And how it shined all the way down his back. I thought about his smile, and how every time he smiled, his eyes shined with confidence and beauty. I thought about his eyes, and how they were the perfect shape and color, and how they fit him perfectly. I don't know how long this went on, but then I was snapped back into reality.

"Kim? Hello?! Are you there?" Sarah sounded frantic, and I had to get back into the real world. I couldn't let her know that I wasn't paying attention.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm here. I think it's terrible what Mike did to Katie. How can you cheat on someone? Especially like that, at a party where she's at too." I'm thankful I heard this story, or else she would have known I spaced out the entire time.

"Yeah, same. I don't know. Well my moms calling me, so I'll see you tomorrow, bye!" She hung up, and I was left alone. Why did this always happen to me? I can't be left alone. I'll either just start crying or thinking about Jared. And neither one of those is a helpful choice. I sat up out of my bed, and got up to look at myself in the mirror.

My legs are too short for my long torso. My eyes are far too small for my face, and my cheekbones are too high for my liking. My russet colored skin didn't bother me as much as everything else about my body because it was normal. That was probably the normal part of me. My black hair reached just past the bottom of my ribs. It was straight, black, and boring. _That's why he doesn't notice you, it's because you're too normal and plain._ The tears blurred the vision of myself in the mirror. So I sat back down on my bed and glanced back to the clock. It read 8:30. We always waited for dad to have dinner, no matter how late it was. Then my mom called me downstairs, and I heard the front door swing open.

I took each step down the stairs as slow as I could, and when I got down them, my mom and dad were standing in the doorway kissing and hugging each other. My throat burned and I almost threw up. I turned my head towards the kitchen, and walked to our dining room.

"Kimmy-bear! How was your day?" My dad asked as he walked into the room, and I looked up to see that he had a genuine smile on his face, hm, that's something new.

"Good dad. How was yours?" I had to ask, otherwise he would yell at me. But truthfully I didn't care how his day went.

* * *

After dinner, I said goodnight to my parents, and half ran up the stairs. I entered my room, and tried not to slam the door shut behind me, but I couldn't help but let the anger out. Why were my parents so perfect? And why couldn't I be like them. As I changed into my pajamas, I thought about dinner. I sat there the whole time, while my parents talked about their days and how wonderful they were. They barely even looked at me. They didn't acknowledge me because they were ashamed of me. They have learned to ignore me completely, just like the rest of the world.

It was already 10 o'clock now, and I was exhausted. I had had my fair share of crying today, and crying always wore me out. I started thinking after I turned my lights off. _What would your life be like if you were perfect like your parents? _Jeez, I know. Perfect. That's what my life would be. I would have friends, an actual family, and Jared...Oh Jared. How much I would give for him to love me. Or even just notice me. A tear found it's way down my cheek, and I wiped it away. _Not now, go to sleep. _So with all of my effort, I pushed the thought of Jared out of my head, and tried to fall asleep. The last thing I remember thinking was of course, about him.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own anything. This chapter's the longest yet, woohoo ! Well, hope you enjoy!!

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This is torture. My own mother is torturing me. How could she do this to me? Oh wait, she wasn't doing this for me, so I can see why she doesn't care. She came into my room at 5:30 to wake me up. I usually get up at 7. She didn't even give me time to lay in bed. She pulled me right out of bed, and all the way to the bathroom, where I sat for the next hour and a half getting ready. I guess you can't say I was the one getting ready because I was like the Barbie doll, and she was the energetic five-year-old playing with her shiny new toy. When she was done playing with my hair and make-up, she pulled my wrists and dragged me back into my room to find something to wear.

And now here I am, staring at the girl looking back at me in the mirror. _Is that me?_ I was dumbfounded. The person looking back at me was beautiful. It can't be me, it just can't. I had on a tight, red dress that I never even knew I had. I normally wouldn't wear a dress, but I actually felt...pretty in it. My mom handed me high heels, and I looked down at them, then back at her. She gave me an encouraging smile, so I took them out of her hands and walked to the bed to sit down and but them on.

"Kimmy! You look so gorgeous! See, with some time and preparation, you can look just like...me," she started to tear up, so I walked over and hugged her. _This isn't what you want, you don't want to look like her. She's fake, and you're not. _I know, I know. But at least I'll be making her happy. That's all that really matters.

"I want to get a picture after you eat, so hurry up!" She beamed with accomplishment as she pulled herself out of my arms. She looked at me once more, kissed my forehead, and turned on her heal to go downstairs. I followed, but halfway down the stairs, something came to my mind that I had completely forgotten before.

_Jared._ What is he was actually at school today? Oh my God, I can't believe this. He probably won't even know it's me. Wait, he wouldn't notice me anyway, so he wouldn't know if it was me even if I was old Kim. My heart sank as I sat down at the table and picked up the pop tart sitting there. I grabbed the milk, and almost spilled it on my dress. Thank God I didn't because my mom came down as soon as I placed the milk back on the table.

"Kimmy, I'm letting you take my car today because you cooperated so well with me before. Have fun today, Kim." She kissed my cheek, and placed her keys in my hand. _She's letting you take her Corvette? Jeez, maybe she does love you..._I smiled to myself knowing the voice in my head wouldn't be as annoying today.

My heart started beating really fast when I pulled into the parking lot. It was either from the nerves of having everyone watch the Corvette pull up, or from this uneasy feeling I was getting about today. I just wanted it to be over before it had started. I sat in my car for five minutes trying to collect myself, when the stupid voice came back. _Just go, Kim. Show them how beautiful and wonderful you truly are._ I was taken aback. The voice had never been so encouraging before. Oh, this was going to be a good day.

But then I opened the door, and stepped out. All eyes were on me. Normal me would have glanced at the ground the whole walk to my locker, but today I was different. I was confident. I held my head up high, and didn't look anyone in the eyes as I walked.

When I got to my locker, Sarah was there with her back turned towards me. I tapped her on her shoulder, and she turned around. She slide out of my way, not even looking at me.

"Are you new here?" She asked. I Could see her eyes wandering over my body, and seeing if I was actually new. I reached for my locker, and she saw this. She looked confused at first, but then it clicked. She scared me with a hug so tight, I could have died.

"Kim? Is this really you? Oh my god!!! When you told me what your mom was doing I thought she the devil. But now I look at you, and...all I can say is WOW. Like really. I probably look like a freak talking to someone so beautiful. Kim, I...I don't know what to say. You look gorgeous." She finally let me go, and she stepped back to look at me. I laughed, and returned to opening my locker.

"You know what? I thought the same thing you did about my mom. But then, when I was looking at myself this morning...I don't know. I actually feel pretty today. I like that feeling, it makes you confident, and different. And she let me drive her Corvette today." I looked up at her, to see her mouth hanging open. I lifted my hand, and closed it.

"Are. you. serious?! That's AWESOME!! Kim, will you drive me home today?" She laughed, but then her face turned serious.

"Of course, I would love to Sarah. Now, we better get to English before Mr. Allen kills us." She threw her head back, laughed, and linked arms with me. As we walked down the hallway laughing, I could feel everyone's head turn as we walked past them, and stare at us. No, not at us. At _me_. If Sarah's, my best friend, reaction was like that, I wonder what everyone else was thinking. Again, normally I would freak out and blush. But confident Kim came through, and I ran into class as the bell had just rung. Sarah let go of my arm, and I walked towards my desk. Some people looked confused, some looked dumbfounded, and some looked excited that they would have a new girl in class.

"Well, thanks for joining us, Sarah and Kim. We were just about to start reading Romeo and Juliet. You wouldn't want to miss that, would you?" Mr. Allen walked over to grab a box of books, and everyone whispered. They were along the line of "_That's_ Kim?" "What happened to her?" And one guy even said, "Whose Kim?" I laughed to myself, and took the book Mr. Allen handed to me. He winked at me when I took it out of his hand. _EW. What a creeper. _You don't need to be telling me, I know.

After sitting through a whole hour of boring Romeo and Juliet, the bell rang. Sarah came running up with a huge smile on her face as I picked up my purse. I didn't even realize where my feet were taking me because I was too busy telling Sarah about Mr. Allen. But then she stopped, gave me a quick hug, and said she'd see me at lunch. I was at my next class. Math class.

My heart started to beat really fast. My face flushed, and I couldn't think. What if he's here today? _Just shut up, and walk into class. _You're right, just do it Kim. I breathed in and out five times, and walked through the door. As I did, I could feel all eyes on me. Every head snapped up, but not his. That's because he wasn't here, again. My heart stopped beating, but then went back to normal as I sat in my desk. I looked down at my hands, which were still shaking from my nerves. _Stupid, stupid Kim. I knew he wouldn't be here today. Don't let him ruin your day, it was going fine before this. _The voice did have a point...yeah. I just have to get over it.

"O.K., O.K. class settle down. Whose not here today? Ashley, John, and Jared." Mrs. Martina looked disappointed. I probably did too. "So today we have a test. Remember?" The only reply she got was a bunch of sighs and complains. She smiled as she said, "I'll give you guys a couple of minutes to study. And I'll give you a hint, know all the formulas!" She sat down at her computer, and then watched as everyone did anything but study. Instead, they all talked about me. It would have been humiliating for me, but not today, not with the new Kim here. I opened my folder and decided to ignore the stares and whispers, and to actually study for the test.

After what seemed like forever, Mrs. Martina was standing in the front of the room, with her hands folded across her chest. She was practically fuming.

"Now, when I say 'study', I mean to actually study. Not to sit here and gossip about Kim," she looked at me. I ducked my head, knowing everyone was looking at me now. And here comes the old, shy Kim. "But seriously, this is the hardest test of the year, so it's your fault if you all fail." She said nothing else, but turned around to grab the tests. She handed them out, and after about thirty minutes, I was the first one done. I smiled as I placed my pencil down, and I got up to turn it in.

I sat down at my desk again, being pretty satisfied with myself. I looked up to find half of the class still staring at me, most of them being boys. I smiled at them and they all smiled back. They all looked like idiots, they were practically drooling over me. This was a funny concept, because usually I was the one drooling over the guys, well actually one guy. But literally, I did drool once in class. I laughed at this memory and at the stupid boys in my class. They had all gotten back to their work, so I just looked like a freak laughing to herself. Then the door opened, and everyone, including me, looked up to see who is was.

It was _him._ He was actually here. He was so...different. He was taller, which I didn't know was possible because he was already tall enough to begin with. His muscles were more defined in his t-shirt, and the air traveling into my lungs got lost somewhere. I couldn't breathe. He cut his long, shiny hair. It was now short and not even past his ears. If it was possible, he got more handsome. No, he got hotter. WAY hotter. But as I watched him stand in the doorway looking at everyone staring at him, something was different in his eyes. They were tired, restless. They seemed to show pain, and agony. They were more mesmerizing than before, and I couldn't help myself. I wanted him; I_ needed_ him. I looked down, and the voice came back into my head. _Breathe Kim, breathe. He's just a boy. He is hotter, but he still hasn't noticed you even when your beautiful today._ First of all, he wasn't just **a** boy, he was **the **boy. And maybe he just hasn't looked at me yet...I don't know. But he's here, and that's what makes me happy, him being here.

"Ah, Jared. You finally decided to join us! Welcome back! Well, as you can see, we are taking a test today. A test that you couldn't take because you weren't here to learn the material!" He walked over to her in his graceful manner, that seemed even more graceful than before. But as he walked, he looked down at the floor, not daring to look up at everyone staring at him.

"Yeah, sorry. I was sick last week, and then this week I had, a...uh..a family emergency." As he spoke, he stood up straighter and looked Mrs. Martina in the eyes. She went from angry and psycho to considering and caring.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jared. I didn't...the office doesn't tell me these things so...yeah. Well, as you can see, we have a new seating arrangement. You sit right behind Kim." She pointed to me, and he looked up to the seat behind me. _You're like glass, he sees right through you Kim. _I tried not to cry right there, and I knew I couldn't. Not in front of him at least. Then he walked towards me, and I looked down at my desk. I couldn't even look at him without crying. _Collect yourself Kim. Don't look weak in front of him. _I took a deep breath, and sat up straight in my desk.

He walked past, and I got a whiff of something...beautiful and delicious. Was that how he smells? WOAH, it was...mind-boggling. I couldn't think straight. I heard him sit down behind me, and I pretended to do something. I couldn't let him see me weak and mesmerized by him. He would just think I'm a freak. I glanced to the clock, and we still had twenty minutes left. I sighed, and I heard his body shift behind me. Then I looked up to see Mrs. Martina walking towards him with a stack of papers.

"These are all of your missed assignments. The book has all of the formulas, or you could just copy them down from someone and memorize them. Kim here probably has all of the sheet for you to copy." She smiled, looked at me, then back to Jared, and walked away. What the heck?! Did she really just do that to me?!?! I couldn't believe her. Does she know I secretly love him and she's trying to torture me, or is she just trying to be nice to him? My mind was to busy trying to figure out a good reason for her sudden decision that I barely heard him cough behind me. I closed my eyes, breathed in, and turned around in my seat.

He was focused on his backpack, in which he was looking for something. Maybe a pencil? After searching for a while, I knew he didn't have one. I turned back around, and reached for my pencil case, grabbed a pencil and my folder, and placed both on his desk.

"All of the papers are in order by dates, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure it all out." Way to go Kim, could you sound anymore like a nerd? I mentally slapped myself for being so stupid.

He was busy flipping through his notebook while he was talking."Thanks so much, I don't know-" He stopped talking as soon as he looked me in the eyes. Oh no, I probably had something on my face. This was terrible. It was horrendous. I can't believe I'm actually talking to him with something on my face. I looked down at my hands. I couldn't think of anything to say. What happened to confident Kim? I liked her, I needed her now. But she was too scared, sitting in a corner of the back of my mind, and she refused to come out. I forced her to come out, pulling her by the wrists and dragging her on the floor.

"You're welcome. You can keep them as long as you need to. Just give them back when you're done? Thanks." I smiled at him, and I swear I heard him breathing heavily behind me for five minutes. I smiled. He was just like me. I found it hard to breath when he talked to me. Well, I wouldn't know 'cause he never really had talked to me before.

I glanced back to the clock. Two minutes left. I was putting my stuff away, and then realized he still had my pencil. _Just ask him for it back, he won't mind. _I can't...I can't talk to him. I ignored the voice, and let him keep the pencil. The bell rang, and I almost jumped out of seat trying to rush to find Sarah. But when I was almost at the door, a warm hand grabbed my arm and spun me around. It was him. My mind turned to fuzz, and I couldn't breathe.

"You...I...Your pencil?" He handed me my pencil, and looked down at me. I grabbed it, and shoved it in my bag. I looked back up. I almost fell over. He was looking at me like...I don't know. Like he loved me. _Kim, that's not it. Don't believe that. _I shook my head, but I still couldn't look away from Jared. His stare was so intense and full of life, it made me never want to look away. But then I heard people stopping in the hallway, and I couldn't let everyone talk about me even more than they already were today.

"Thanks, Jared." He smiled when I said his name, so I smiled back at him. His grew wider when he saw me smile, and with that, I walked past him, and into the pit of people talking about me. It was the weirdest feeling, having people actually notice me. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but I couldn't think about them because they all seemed so far away. I was walking down the silent hall all alone, thinking about what just happened with Jared. He actually talked to me. _Why would he talk to you Kim? _The voice was not ruining my day. So I pushed it back in my head, and made my way towards Biology.

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Please read and review ! I love to hear your responses ! And I think next chapter may be from Jared's point of view, so...yeah !


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! Two chapters in one day-yes! Please read and review, I love to hear what I can change or keep in my story! I don't own anything, hope you enjoy!!

Jared's Point Of View

_7:30 AM_

_**Beep. Beep. Beep. **_I lifted my head to see where the annoying sound was coming from, and noticed it was coming from the alarm clock. Stupid alarm clock. I picked it up off of my night stand, and threw it at the wall. It shattered into pieces. I was satisfied, so I threw the sheets back over my body.

I heard the door open, but I didn't look up to see who it was. I snored, and pretended to sleep, this was not a very good plan, knowing whoever it was probably heard the alarm clock shatter.

"JARED NAHL!!! Get up, NOW!!! I don't care how sick you feel, you **are **going back to school today. You can't talk me out of this one, your father and I have already talked about it. We understand how weird it will be, going back after this whole thing, but you've already missed to much school." She whipped the covers off of my body, and I groaned at her.

"Mom, can't I just stay home for first period? I have study hall so it doesn't even matter..." I looked up at her with my best puppy dog face. She bought it.

"Fine, but this is only this one time, Jared. Don't expect me to be nice to you all the time now because you're a werewolf. I know it makes you tired but-" I cut her off.

"Yeah yeah, I got it. Thanks mom, you're the best." She smiled, and threw the blanket back over me. I was still tired from patrolling last night, but I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about what everyone would think about me when I got to school. They'd all think that I'm on steroids or something because I grew so much. But they couldn't know the truth. No one ever could except the pack, which at the time only consists of me and Sam, my parents, and eventually my imprint. I am a werewolf. A vampire slaying werewolf. I sighed, and rolled over in my bed.

The worst part about being a werewolf is leaving all of your old friends. Sam says it's too dangerous to be around other people, so I have to ditch them and pretend I don't like them. At first, I was pissed because I didn't want to give up my life. But Sam convinced me that it was for the good of everyone in La Push, so I guess it's kinda cool. So, I still need to think of an excuse to tell my friends as to why I can't hang out with them anymore.

And then there's Lindsey. She _was _my girlfriend. But with pack stuff, I just can't deal with her. Literally, I can't. Sam ordered me to stay away from her. And him being the stupid Alpha, I have to listen to him. It's actually not that bad though, 'cause I didn't really like her anyway. She was just another popular girl that I hooked up with, and then she became obsessed with me. I was going to break up with her eventually anyway.

I sighed again, and tried to fall back asleep and get some rest before going to my own personal hell.

_8:15 AM_

I woke up to my mom pulling the sheet off of my bed. I rolled over, and stretched. My whole body hung off of the bed because the only thing that actually fit on it was my torso. I rubbed my eyes, and saw that my mom was still standing in my room.

"Jared, get up. Class starts in less than a half an hour." She stood there, waiting for me to get up. I already caused her enough stress for a lifetime, so I sat up in my bed.

"Can you, uh, leave? I need to get dressed." She laughed at me, kissed the top of my head, and walked away, closing the door behind her.

I walked across my room and up to my dresser. I picked out the only pair of pants that still fit me, which happened to be sweat pants. Awesome, first day back and I'm going to look like a hobo. I pulled the first shirt I saw over my head, and checked myself in the mirror. Sam made me cut my hair, so it was short now. I didn't mind it, I actually like it. But as I looked in the mirror, I was actually nervous. I was nervous as to what all of the kids at school would think of me. I needed to talk to Sam.

I almost ran out of the house, but then I remembered my mom was here so I ran up to her. "Mom, I'm going to run over to Sams really fast and talk to him about this whole school thing. I'll see you after school, love you." I grabbed a box of pop tarts, and ran towards my car.

When I pulled up to his house, I could smell Emily's pancakes. I could smell them from a mile away thanks to my super senses, but anyone could because they smelled good no matter what. I loved her cooking. Although I just ate a box of pop tarts, I could manage to scarf down a couple of pancakes. I didn't bother knocking, I just walked into their small, yellow house. I was always welcome, or at least that's what Emily said.

They were in the kitchen. I walked in about to say something, but then I saw Sam kissing her all over her body, while she stood there laughing. Sick. She saw me, and immediately stopped laughing.

"Jared, hi. What are you doing here?" She tried to push Sam off of her, but he wouldn't take it. He kissed her lips, and when he pulled away she laughed again. Then, he turned towards me. He looked like he could have killed me.

"This better be good, Jared." He sat down at the table, and Emily sat down next to him. When he saw this, he pulled her off her chair and placed her on his lap. She laughed, and looked up to me.

"Oh, stop Sam. I told him he's always welcome. And he's just in time for pancakes." She kissed his cheek, and walked over to the stove. Sam looked at me with his angry look again, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. He will find out eventually, so I just need to tell him.

"OK, I just needed to talk to you about school. How did you go back? I was a nervous wreck this morning in my room. I just need to know what you did. I'm afraid of what they'll all think of me." Emily walked up and placed a plate of pancakes in front of me. I ate them, and looked at Sam for his response. He was eating his pancakes too, but then he looked at me and saw me waiting for an answer.

"Well, Jared. It was definitely harder for me because I had no one else, it was just me. But I just kept telling myself that it was OK because I was protecting all of the people that were talking about me. I know it sounds crazy, but it helped me. You're here to protect them, and they don't even know it. It actually is an amazing feeling. You'll see." He shoved another pancake in his mouth, and I looked at the clock.

"I gotta go, I'm already ten minutes late. Thanks for the pancakes Emily. And thanks for the advice Sam." Emily came over and hugged me. She looked like she could cry when she looked at me. I laughed at her, and ran out the door. When I got in my car, I was nervous again. I was nervous the whole ride there.

I parked my car, and sat there for five minutes trying to convince myself to just go inside. But I couldn't. My body wouldn't allow it. I almost ran off into the woods to talk to Sam, but I knew he would be angry and force me to go to school. So, with all of my effort, I got out of my car and walked the slowest I could to the main office.

The secretary almost didn't recognize me. But when she did, she looked shocked that I was actually here, in school. She handed me my pass, still not saying a word. Oh God, if this was how the secretary reacted, I wonder what everyone else will be like. I slowly walked to class, and then I was there, in front of my math class. I breathed in and out a couple of times, and opened the door. It was silent in the class room, and all heads snapped up to look at me. Most jaws dropped. I stood there like an idiot, not knowing what to do. This was terrible, it was my personal hell. If they weren't taking a test, they would have all started to whisper. I looked around the room to meet everyone's eyes, they were all confused and amazed.

"Ah, Jared. You finally decided to join us! Welcome back! Well, as you can see, we are taking a test today. A test that you couldn't take because you weren't here to learn the material!" It was Mrs. Martina, our math teacher. I walked over to her desk, looking at the ground the entire time. I handed her the pass, and realized I hadn't thought of an excuse for my teachers yet. Crap.

"Yeah, sorry. I was sick last week, and then this week I had, a...uh..a family emergency." I stood up straighter and looked her in the eye, trying to show her how hurt I was. She believed it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jared. I didn't...the office doesn't tell me these things so...yeah. Well, as you can see, we have a new seating arrangement. You sit right behind Kim." I looked over to my desk, and walked towards it. Kate? No, Kim. Yeah Kim looked down at her desk before I could look at her. I wonder if she was new here, I sure haven't seen her before.

I saw Mrs. Martina walking to me with a stack of papers, and I shifted in my seat. Great, as if patrolling isn't bad enough, I get a whole packet of homework to do.

"These are all of your missed assignments. The book has all of the formulas, or you could just copy them down from someone and memorize them. Kim here probably has all of the sheet for you to copy." She looked at Kim, who sat in front of me, then back at me, and walked back to her desk. Weird. Kim sat there for a minute, and I coughed to get her attention. She started to turn towards me, so I went to my backpack for my notebook and a pencil. I found the notebook, but as I dug through it, I couldn't find a pencil. As if she could read my mind, she handed me a pencil and her folder.

"All of the papers are in order by dates, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure it all out."

Her voice sounded so beautiful, but I couldn't figure out why. I flipped through my notebook, looking for a place to take notes when I decided to say something.

"Thanks so much, I don't know-" And then I looked up at her. She was beautiful. Why hadn't I noticed her before? She was the best thing on this Earth, and I felt very attracted to her. There was also this pull that kept telling me to keep her safe. She needed to be protected no matter what. She was wonderful, and everything I needed to keep me alive.

Then she made a sad face, and I felt that I had caused it. I felt terrible, and angry with myself. If she wasn't here, I would have phased, but somehow she kept me under control.

"You're welcome. You can keep them as long as you need to. Just give them back when you're done? Thanks." She smiled at me, and it was the most beautiful smile ever. It reached her eyes, but somehow it seemed forced. She turned back around too quickly; I couldn't stare at her anymore so I couldn't know that she was really safe. I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the period, I just sat there taking her in. Everyone else probably thought I was a creep, but I didn't care. She smelled like strawberries and vanilla mixed together. It was intoxicating. And then the bell rang, and she jumped out of her seat. Crap, I still had her pencil. At least I would get to talk to her again. I ran up behind her, and for the first time I noticed what she was wearing. A tight, red dress. Hmm, she was gorgeous in it. I could just stare at her all day. But I couldn't at least not yet. I grabbed her arm, and she spun around. And she waited for me to talk, but I couldn't she was to beautiful.

"You...I...Your pencil?" SMOOTH, very smooth Jared. I handed her the pencil, and she shoved it in her bag. Then she looked up to me. I didn't want to look away. I need to be there for her. I need to protect her. I need to love her. And I need her to love me. I could hear people in the halls whispering about us, but I didn't care. I wanted to be with her forever, no one else mattered in this world but her.

"Thanks, Jared." I smiled. She knew my name. And when she said it, it was so casual and normal that she acted like she knew me for years. I wish she had known me for years. I wanted to be with her for many more years. When I smiled, she smiled up to me. And I looked at her while she was smiling, and I couldn't help but smile even wider. I was like a lovesick puppy because I looked like an idiot, but I didn't care. Her smile warmed my insides, and suddenly I realized that everything was going to be O.K., as long as she was here with me. She noticed the people in the hallways talking, and she seemed nervous. She looked down, and walked away from me. I ran after her, but halfway, I gave up. She wouldn't ever love me. I didn't know what to do without her here beside me. I felt empty, like she took my heart with her. She could if she wanted to and it made her happy.

I walked to my next class on a cloud, so happy that I got to meet her. Kim. I sighed as I thought her name, it fit her perfectly. She was perfect in every way. Then I sat down in my English class and continued to think about her. Then it came to me.

What just happened? Was I crazy? I just met her and I loved her. This was all too weird...but then I remembered I was a werewolf. And there's this thing called imprinting. Sam said it was very rare, but he was lucky enough to have imprinted on Emily. I knew it would happen to me. And It did.

I imprinted on my first day back as a werewolf.

I imprinted on Kim.


	5. Chapter 5

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, not me! Read and review please! Thanks guys, enjoy!

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Biology class went by in a blur. Our teacher gave us a free day to catch up on our homework, so I sat there the whole period thinking about Jared. He was gorgeous, and he actually talked to me. Me, as in Kim. Poor, little, shy Kim that has one friend. And he was Jared. Cool, popular, handsome Jared. The bell rang, and that signaled lunch. I could finally talk to Sarah.

As I walked down the halls, my heels clicked on the floor. People looked up at me while I walked because they probably thought I was a teacher walking by with my heels on.

I pushed the cafeteria doors open, and the wind blew in my face. Most people stopped talking because I was the one they were talking about. Confident Kim took control and walked over to my table. Sarah was already there waiting for me, and I smiled at her as she looked at me. She waved, and all I could do was laugh at her, she looked like such a nerd. But she was my nerd, my best friend.

"You know, you look like a freak sitting here all by yourself." She pretended to look shocked, but she laughed and moved her books off of the table.

"Yeah, I've been told this. So anyway, you're the new talk of the whole school, you know that, Kim? My best friend is what everyone is talking about." She smiled, and took a bite of her apple.

"Oh, shut up. I don't care what they all think of me. Really. I'm only trying to impress one person, Sarah. And I think it may have worked..."As soon as I finished my sentence, she choked on the apple, and spit it out. "Ahhh, Ew! Gross!" I laughed, and handed her a napkin.

"Are you serious Kim?! What happened?!" She grabbed the napkin and whipped her face. She took out her mirror and checked her make-up. She had to touch it up, so she went to the bathroom. I would have gone with her because I usually don't want to be alone. But I stayed because I wanted to look for him.

When she left, I looked around the cafeteria and found him. Except he was sitting and talking to Lindsey. She was his girlfriend. _Of course he has a girlfriend, what did you expect?_ I almost fell apart right there in the café. They looked like things were getting heated, so I felt bad by trying to listen, but I couldn't hear anything anyway. A tear streamed down my face, I couldn't stay here and watch him with another girl. Why would he have talked to me, or looked at me like that if he had a girlfriend? When I was with him, I totally forgot about Lindsey. But now, sitting here watching them talk, I wish he had never talked to me. He just got my hopes up for nothing.

Then he looked away from Lindsey as she stomped away from him. He looked around the cafeteria, as if he was looking for someone. He was sitting all by himself, and part of me wanted to go sit by him. But there was another part of me that wanted to cry over him. I shouldn't let him get to me like this, I know. But I can't help it. He's just too perfect. Then he found who he was looking for, me.

He saw me crying at my table, and got up. I thought he was going to through his garbage away, but he walked right past the garbage cans, and made his way towards my table. I couldn't let him see me like this, not that he would care. I looked up to see him even closer to my table. Another tear rolled down my face, and he stopped walking. He looked confused, pained, and hurt. He stood there, staring at me with the same look on his face. I could read what he was thinking by looking at him. He felt terrible. He looked sorry, and I could see that he was. But I couldn't talk to him, not now. So I grabbed my books, and ran towards the bathroom, leaving him where he stood.

I ran to the closest bathroom and hoped Sarah would be there.

"Sarah?" I asked, not sure who I was talking to. Then, a stall flew open, and Sarah walked out. When she me, my make-up was probably streaming down my face. She ran up to me, and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"What happened? What's wrong Kim?" I couldn't speak, I don't think I was capable of forming real words. I just looked up to her and hoped she could read my face. Apparently she could, because she wrapped her arms around me as I cried into her shoulder. She sat down on the floor, and I just followed her because I needed her here to comfort me. She rubbed circles in my back as she rocked me back and forth in her lap.

After the whole period of people walking in and out, staring at us like we're freaks, I finally stopped crying, and Sarah tried to fix my make-up. I didn't look as good as before, but it was still better than I could have done.

"Sarah, you're going to be a great mom one day." I told her as she attempted to fix my hair. It was useless. My hair had frizzed up into a big ball on the top of my head. I laughed, and just pulled it up into a ponytail.

"Thanks, I've always wanted kids." She genuinely smiled at me, and grabbed my hand. "We have to go to class now, do you think you can do it, Kim?" _No, you can't do this. _Why did it come back? It had been so good up until now.

"Of course I can do it." I hoped it sounded believable. I looked down at the floor, and back up to Sarah. She looked skeptical. She was thinking if I could do it, so to prove it, I walked out the bathroom door with her following behind me. What a mistake that was. He was waiting there, and as soon as he saw me, he pushed himself off of the lockers. I stopped dead in my tracks, and Sarah bumped into me.

"Kim, what are you doing?" She asked, and looked over my shoulder. I felt her glare, and smiled. I knew she would have my back. "Oh, what are _you _doing here?" I love Sarah, she truly will be my best friend forever. I still hadn't looked him in the eyes yet. I was too afraid that I would let myself forgive him. But I wasn't going to let myself do that.

"I just needed to know that Kim was O.K. I...yeah. Kim, are you O.K.?" I hadn't been paying much attention because I was trying to not look at him. Then I realized that they were both staring at me, and I needed to think of a response.

"Me? I...uh, yeah. I'm fine. We were just talking. Right, Sarah?" I looked at her with pleading eyes. She would ask me about it later, and I would explain, but I wouldn't show my weakness in front of him. She finally gave in.

"Yeah. We do that a lot. Go in the bathroom and talk. Not many people go to that bathroom, so we like to talk there." She was much better at lying than I was.

"Oh, I see. Well...Kim, can I talk to you? Alone?" Did he really just ask that? I choked on my words, and glanced over to see Sarah doing the same. I still couldn't speak, so I nodded. As we walked together down the hall, I looked over my shoulder to see that Sarah was still standing there with her jaw hitting the floor. Then he stopped and leaned against the lockers. He closed his eyes, and sighed out. I had to stop drooling over him before he opened his eyes. Luckily, as soon as I did, he opened his eyes.

"Listen, Kim. I know this is going to sound very weird, but..." He spaced out. He seemed nervous, in fact, very nervous. His hands were shaking violently, so violently that it scared me to look at them any longer. I looked back up to his face, and he was staring at me. And when our eyes met, I couldn't look away. I wanted to stay here forever. I might have turned into mush if it wouldn't be so embarrassing. His eyes were intense and wide. _What is with that stare? _It was very protective and daring. It was creepy, but at the same time the most romantic thing ever. I've always wanted him to look at me, and now he can't look away from me. We would have stayed there for hours if it wasn't for the bell. It rang, and suddenly students filled the halls. I blinked, and my eyes burned from his stare. I collected myself, and turned on my heel to walk away. Then that same warm hand grabbed my waist, and Jared was in front of me. His hand dropped, and I frowned. The spot were his hand touched was on fire from both his hot hands and the fact that Jared Nahl had just touched me.

"Kim. I want to get to know you, I really really _really_ want to know everything there is to know about you. Will you go for a walk with me on the beach today?" I couldn't speak. What happened to confident Kim again?! _Say yes! Say yes! _

"Yes, I mean. Yeah, I would like that." I smiled as I finished my last sentence. He beamed with brilliance, and smiled. Then he lifted his hand, and brushed my cheek. His touch burned my face as his fingers pulled the hair out of my face. He tucked it behind me ear, and returned his hand back to my face. I looked back down to the ground, but his hand lifter my face to meet his eyes.

"I'll see you later, Kim." He winked at me. Jared just winked at me. I caught my breath, and he laughed. Then too soon, he walked to his next class. It took me a minute to recollect my thoughts. Then I laughed at myself, and walked towards my next class.

The rest of the day was felt like I wasn't in this world. I was floating above everyone else, and no one dared to ask me any questions. I think they were all still scared of the new me. I got over that. I was still trying to figure Jared out. What had made him want to talk to me? I didn't really care, I was just happy he was.

The final bell rang, and I walked towards my locker. I saw a pair of shoes there, but they weren't the same old, worn down ones I was used to. I didn't recognize them, so I looked up. It was Jared. He smiled at me, and all I could do was smile back. _Say something Kim, do it. _I can do this, I can totally do this.

"Hey." Woah, that was smooth Kim. _You sounded stupid, like a little girl._

"Hi." He sounded just as stupid as I had, and I laughed. I saw him smile when I laughed, and when I looked at him, he looked confused as he smiled at me.

"It's nothing, really. So, how do you know where my locker is? Are you like stalking me or something?" I glanced up to see him laughing. Was it that funny? I didn't think it was...weird.

"No, I have my sources." I tried to grab my book, but he pushed me aside. "Here, I'll get them. Which ones do you need?"

"I, uh, Biology and math." I stared at him as he grabbed my books, and waited for him to hand them over to me. He didn't. He just started walking towards the door. I didn't follow. I couldn't. He realized I wasn't following, and ran up to me.

"Is something wrong, Kim? Can you hear me?" He looked really concerned. _Why would he care? _Good question Kim. _Well! Say something to the poor kid._

"I'm fine. Let's go. I have my mom's car so, do you want me to drive?" I walked as I talked to him, and he nodded at me. We walked to my car in silence.

Once we got there, he opened my door, and closed it when I sat down in my seat. I blushed, and he smiled. Ah, this was going to be an interesting car ride.


	6. Chapter 6

Don't own it, and I never will. Read, and review. Thanks, and hope you enjoy!

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He walked around the front of my car still smiling, yanked the door open, and sat down next to me. I pulled the keys out of my purse, and started the car.

"Nice car." He said as he looked around the inside of my moms car. I thought about telling him that it wasn't my car, but I didn't want to. Once he took in the car, his eyes settled on me. His stare could have blazed a hole right through my face. That's how intense it was. I didn't look up to him, I couldn't. I focused on driving. The silence seemed too awkward for me. But I couldn't speak. The car was steaming hot, and it smelled like Jared. My head was beginning to spin, and I could have crashed the car. But I pulled myself together. Then he broke the silence, almost like he could read my mind.

"So, Kim. Let's play a game. It won't be too much fun, but at least I'll get to know you better." _Why would you want that, Jared?_ Oh shut up. "I'll ask you twenty questions, and you have to answer them truthfully. Then you can ask me any twenty questions, and I will honestly answer them. Sound cool?" _Be confident Kim. Be confident._

"Sounds awesome." _O.K., I said confident, not idiotic_. Why do I constantly make myself look like a fool in front of Jared? If we were meant to be like I thought, I would be comfortable in front of him. I guess we weren't meant to be. _You're **just** realizing this Kim?_

"O.K., let's see. What's your favorite color?" What a random question.

"Blue. It's calm and relaxing, that's why I like it." Why did I just say that? The only person who knows that is Sarah. He just nodded and continued on with his questions. As he interrogated me, I began to open up and I grew very comfortable with him near me. His questions were still random things, like what my favorite flower is and what my favorite food is. I didn't even realize I pulled up onto my beach, and he jumped out of the car and ran to my door to help me out. I laughed at how ridiculous he looked, and he laughed when he heard me laugh. Then he looked around, and looked confused.

"Oh, this is a little piece of the beach I come to, no one really knows about it but me. I come here when I want to be alone. It's really relaxing and peaceful." Why was I acting so open with him? I was never like this, not even this open in front of Sarah.

"You're a very relaxing person, aren't you?" He asked, seeming very concerned. I felt like I had to tell the truth, like I couldn't lie. But I had to, I couldn't let him know that I just have too much on my mind to escape from.

"Now, does that count as your last question, or no?" I smiled, being really happy with myself for playing him like this.

"Ah, you caught me. No, it doesn't count. Let's see..." He looked like he was contemplating himself, so I waited patiently. "Do you like me?" What? Did I like you, yes. I love you.

"I...uh..what?" Why would he care if I liked him? My mind was rushing and trying to calm myself down when I looked up to see him hurt. Did I do that to him? _Way to go Kim!_

"Do you like me?" He repeated again. I blinked one hundred times as I looked at him. I needed to answer him soon or he would think that I didn't. But I can't confess my love towards him.

"As a friend? Yes. But we barely know each other, Jared. And I don't want to-" He cut me off.

"That's fine. That's all I needed to hear." He looked back down to, and our intense staring begun. Again, I could have sat here for hours, but then I realized I still had my end of the bargain.

"My turn to ask the questions." I smiled, and he laughed at me.

"O.K., just go easy on me." He laughed again.

"What, are you afraid of me or something?" He stopped laughing, and looked dead serious as the smile faded off his face. I laughed, and went on to asking my questions. I asked the same pointless ones he had asked me, but then I got to my last one, and I wanted to think of a good one to ask. _Ask him why he cares so much about you._ I couldn't ask that. That would be taking it too far. _But he's the one who asked if you liked him. _My heart started to beat as I realized what I had to ask him.

"Well? What is it?" He was tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for me. _See, he's the opposite of you. _Oh SHUT UP!

"I....I don't know." But you do know Kim. Just ask the stupid question, now. I can't do this. It's not right to be here with him. He's just getting my hopes up. This sucks. He looked away and to the ocean. He concentrated on it. He looked hurt. He looked like he didn't want to be here with me. _That's because he doesn't. _I sighed.

"Jared?" He looked back towards me, and I couldn't speak. But I forced myself to, I had to do it. "Why...Why are you talking to me all of the sudden? I mean, you come back after being gone for two weeks, and now you keep talking to me..." I broke our stare and looked back to the ocean that he had just been looking at. We sat in silence for a minute, but then his warm hand was under my chin, and he turned my face towards his. It was right there, an inch away from mine. I could smell him, and hear his rapid breathing. Then my breathing slowed and became unpatterned.

"Kim..." The way he said my name made my stomach flip. He said it so calmly and as if he had said it in his dreams. "I keep beating myself up. I don't know why I hadn't noticed you before. But now that I have, I can't stand to be without you. I need to be with you, to make sure you are safe. I can't really explain it to you until you trust me enough to believe me. But please, just please get to know me? I promise you a full explanation later on, but for now, can you just trust me and be my friend?" He looked back up to me with a pleading look. Is this how I looked? So pathetic and needy? I hope I didn't look so vulnerable, it was kind of sad.

"Yeah. I guess I can." The skeptical look wiped off his face, and he picked me up in a tight hug. _Woah, he's strong. _My bones almost crushed under my skin, and he spun me around in circles. I laughed as I spun around and around. He placed me down, smiling. The smile reached his eyes, which were sparkling with excellence. I smiled up to him, and noticed for the first time that I hadn't breathed for a whole minute. My breaths were short and fast, and Jared still stood there staring at me.

"Sorry about that, I just...I got excited. I'm really glad you want to be my friend. Now I can sleep at night, knowing that you want me to be there for you." His smile still hadn't moved, and as he talked, he became less nervous than before.

"It's fine. Besides the fact that you almost killed me." His smiled fell from his face. And that same concerned look came on it.

"Why? Are you hurt? Are you O.K.?" I laughed. What's wrong with him? He was shaking and his eyes were full of regret. I reached my hand out almost automatically, and placed in on his shaking arm.

"Jared, calm down. I'm fine. You're just strong, that's all. I was kidding." His shaking stopped when I touched him, and when I told him I was fine, his face lightened up again.

"Right. Of course. Stupid me!" He slapped his forehead, and I laughed. That's something I would do when I'm nervous. But since I was comfortable with him already, I wasn't that nervous anymore.

"Well, if I don't get home soon my mom will kill me, so...wanna go?" I asked, but I was already standing up from the sand. I held out my hand as if to help him up, and he grabbed it. I kept walking, trying to pull my hand away from his, but he held a tight grip around it. I felt my face burn up. There goes confident Kim. He held it the whole walk to the car, and when I got to my car door, he let go to open my door. I frowned to myself, but smiled up to him.

When I started the car, I looked at the clock. 6:30. Already? Wow, time goes by slow when your with someone you love. He seemed to notice the time too.

"Oh God. My mom's going to kill me too. Do you know where to go?" Of course I knew where he lived, I pretty much stalked him my sophomore year.

"No." I said, trying not to sound to obvious. He gave me directions to his house that I didn't need. Then after five minutes of him talking about his overprotective mom and me talking about my overprotective dad, I pulled up in his driveway.

"Thanks for the ride, Kim." He looked at me, and I blushed. I looked to the steering wheel, and then back up to Jared.

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow?" He nodded, and opened the door. He ran towards his house, and I pulled out of his driveway and made my way to my house. I needed to clear my mind of Jared so that I could think of an excuse to tell my mom. I couldn't. He was just to good looking. And funny. And caring. And amazing. He was perfect. I recognized my house, and saw that both of my parents were already home. _Great._ I sighed, turned the car off, and walked slowly up to the front door.

I opened the door, but no one was in the living room. "Hello? Where are you guys?" As soon as I said this, I walked into the kitchen and saw my parents standing there. My mom was making dinner at the stove, and my dad was standing behind her with his hands wrapped around her waste. I heard her giggle, and I smiled. I stood there, smiling at them. I want that. I want a perfect husband. But after a while, I was getting bored watching them, so I coughed. My dad's hands dropped and he turned around.

"Kimmy! Come here!" He pulled me in a close hug. It didn't feel as good as Jared's hug, but it still felt nice coming from my dad.

"Doesn't Kim look beautiful today? I helped her do her make-up and get ready this morning. I cried. She's all grown up." My mom smiled at me, and turned to her cooking.

"She does. Kim, you look gorgeous, as always. Now, let's have some dinner!" He walked into the dining room and sat at the table, and my mom came over with the food. She placed it on the table, and sat down across from my dad. He started a conversation, that for once, actually involved me.

Halfway through dinner, the phone rang. I jumped up to go and get. Normally, my dad would have said to let the machine get it, but he was too busy laughing at something my mom said to notice it ring. The number was unknown, so I answered it.

"Connweller residence. How may I help you?" I had to answer it like this, or else my parents would get mad.

"Jeez Kim. What are they doing to you over there?" He laughed, and I realized who it was.

"John?! Oh my God. I haven't talked to you in forever!" I was so ecstatic to talk to him that I yelled into the phone. Tears overflowed onto my cheeks. These were unlike any other tears I have cried in the past three weeks, they were tears of joy.

"I know, I know Kim. Sorry about that, I've just been busy here, that's all. So how have you been? How's the devil?" I laughed and wiped the tears off my face.

"Oh you know. She's actually been getting better. And dad's actually happy when he comes home from work now."

"What? And I'm not there to witness this? Damn, I'm sorry Kim. I'll come visit you soon, I promise. Now, how's this Jared obsession? Have you gotten over him yet?" He was one of the two people that knew about that. I smiled at him through the phone.

"Actually, John, today he actually-"I was cut off by my dad walking in the room.

"Who is that, Kim? Hang up, we're in the middle of dinner." He started to walk away, but I got his attention.

"No, it's John, dad." He stopped, and turned towards me. I dropped the phone from my ear and place it on my shoulder.

"Well, why didn't you say so?!" He walked towards me, and I heard John yelling up to me through the phone.

"John, dad wants to talk to you, I'll call you later from my phone." I whispered so that my dad couldn't hear. He grabbed the phone out of my hand, and smiled at me. This signaled for me to leave. I smiled back, and walked into the dining room. My mom was sitting there, looking confused.

"It was John, dad's talking to him. I'm done eating, so can I go up to my room?" She nodded at me and began to clean up the plates. I left her, and ran up the stairs two at a time.

I opened my door, and sank into my bed. My mind was rushing. I was so glad that John called. I missed him so much. I loved him, he was the only one in my family that understood me. And after thinking about John, my mind drifted to Jared.

I was still skeptical as to why he was talking to me, but I told him that I trusted him, I had to keep my promise and be friends with him. I was actually going to be friends with Jared. I smiled. But just as soon as I smiled, I knew that meant he didn't want to be more than friends. A frown formed on my face. Then someone knocked at my door.

"Come in," I said as I sat up in the bed. The door opened and my dad stood there.

"Hi Kimmy. I was just checking on you. How was your day?" He asked with that same sparkle in his eyes as the other day. But this time I wasn't annoyed with him.

"Excellent. How was yours?" I asked this because I wanted to, not because I needed to.

"That's good to hear. My day was wonderful as well. I'm glad you had a good day, Kim." He winked at me and closed the door. He was off the phone with John. I flipped my body to the other side of my bed, and dialed his number. It rang only once, and then he answered.

"Kimberly. Anne. Connweller. What is this talk about Jared?" I forgot that's what he wanted to talk about, and I went speechless. I choked on my words, and swallowed the lump in my throat.

"O.K. So, recently he was gone for two weeks, and I almost died. Really, I moped around the house and I guess mom noticed cause she got fed up with me and now she's picking out all of my outfits for school." I told him, waiting for his response, but he didn't say anything. His jaw was probably hanging open.

"I am so sorry Kim. Really, should I come get you now, or what?" He laughed, and I joined him.

"No, I actually liked it...but that's another story. Anyway. So of course the day mom picks to make me over, he shows up to school again." I allowed him to respond again.

"O.K., well isn't that a good thing? Did he finally notice you? Oh, please tell me he noticed you Kim!" I laughed at him, and didn't answer. I loved torturing him. "Hello?! I'm dying here!"

"Yes, he did! And he took me to the beach, and we sat down. And he asked me a bunch of questions because he said he wanted to get to know me. Me, shy Kim!!! And then I asked him why he was talking to me, and he said that I needed to trust him, so I did. I do trust him. So now, we are officially friends." He didn't say anything. "John, you're scaring me. Hello?" He still didn't answer. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here Kim. I'm just...WOW! Did this really happen, or are you lying to me?" What, was it that hard to believe? _Yes, it is very hard to believe._ "Kim, I just...I don't believe him. He's a guy, I'm a guy. I know jerks like him. This could all be a joke or something Kim..." A tear made it's way down my face. _Told you!!!_

"You don't believe me, do you?" My voice cracked. More tears flowed down my face, and I couldn't see anything.

"No, Kim. I believe you. I just don't believe him. I just don't want you to get hurt, Kim. You're my baby sis, I gotta look out for you." His voice was low, as if he was trying to convince me to believe him.

"Right, I get it. Look, I have to go. I'll talk to you soon, O.K.?" I didn't wait for his response, I just slammed the phone into the receiver. I crawled under my covers not caring what time it was, and cried myself to sleep. I tried not to think about John, and let my mind wander to Jared. It did, and the last thing I thought about was his hot breath on my face as his face was so close to mine. It was like I was in heaven.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry this one kind of took longer, but I was busy with school and cheer...But please enjoy this chapter! It's somewhat of a filler, but I still like it. Thanks for all the awesome reviews, keep it up! Read & Review please!!!

P.S.- I don't own Twilight.

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Getting up early wasn't as bad this morning because I actually got sleep. I don't really know why, I think it's because for the first time in my life, I was actually happy. I fell asleep like a baby last night, and I didn't wake up at all. And when my mom came in, I didn't fight her. I wanted to get up and get ready. I wanted to look pretty. It's the least I could do, right?

After an hour of make-up and hair, I went downstairs to get something to eat. I realized I wasn't really hungry, so I just grabbed a bagel and spread some cream cheese on it. I looked down, and saw what my mom had put on me. It was a pair of tight jeans and some babydoll shirt. It wasn't bad, actually kind of cute. _What happened to you?!_ I laughed at the stupid voice. I honestly don't know what happened to me. But I like it. With that, the voice went quite. I smiled, and stood up to start to walk to school. Oh no, I had high heels on again. This shall be torture, I thought. I slipped on my jacket and opened the door, and then my mom came running in the room, throwing her keys at me.

"Oh, thanks mom." I looked from the keys in my hand to her, and back to the keys. I smiled. Maybe today was going to be even better than yesterday. _Doubt that._ I sighed, and walked towards the door.

"No problem, Kim. Oh and before I forget, John called and said sorry?" I looked at her to see her eyebrows raised and a confused look on her face. All I could do was nod. I totally forgot about what happened with John. "O.K., well he said to call him whenever. Have a good day again Kim!" She hugged me, and then turned towards the kitchen. I walked towards my car, and then pulled the door open. I sank into the seat, and started it.

The whole ride to school I thought about what John had said. Was it really that hard to believe that Jared was talking to me? _I already told you, yes it is hard to believe. _I pushed the voice to the back of my head, while trying to think this through logically. My head keeps telling me that it is insane that he's finally talking to me, and that I shouldn't believe any of it. But my heart, which rules out my head almost subconsciously, reacts like a ten-year-old Jonas Brother fan that got to touch Joe. Every time I see him, my heart beats fast and my palms sweat. I feel my face burn up when his eyes meet mine, and I know I never want to look away. But that's just it, it's only me. I knew he would never **ever** feel that way about me, plain Kim.

I've never really thought about it before. I mean I have because I knew he would never talk to me, or even notice me for that matter. But now that he is, I need to ask this question. Why is he suddenly talking to me? As soon as I had thought it, it became a necessity that I found out the answer. My head told me that is was because he was dared to or that it was a joke. But my heart ruled that out, and it told me that he finally noticed me, and I was finally going to have him and he would be mine.

I smiled, and as I pulled into my normal parking spot in the back of the lot, I decided to drop the topic for now. _Just play it safe today, Kim. Don't get to comfortable. _And for once, I actually agreed with the voice. And then I saw him talking to Paul. Paul looked paler than usual, and after Jared placed his hand on his shoulder, Paul smiled to him and walked off towards his car. Weird, school hadn't even started yet. And then Jared looked around nervously until his eyes met mine. His face lit up as he smiled and made his way to my car. Jared Nahl was walking to my car? I smiled back to him, and walked to meet him halfway.

"Hello Kimberly," he smiled down at me and took a bow. I rolled my eyes and laughed at his stupidness.

"Hi. And don't call me that, I hate that name." At that, he rolled his eyes.

"O.K., Kim it is. May I carry your books for you?" He already reached out his hands, but I stood shocked. Did he just ask that? He actually wanted to be seen with me at school? "Are you alright Kim? Hello?" He waved his hand in front of my face, and after a minute, I snapped back and realized where I was. I laughed to myself.

"I'm fine." I handed my books over to him and walked forward. He walked me up to my locker, and then down to English class. The whole walk was silent, but comfortable. I looked up at him a couple of times, and he was starring at me. I blushed each time, and each time he smiled at my blush. Then we arrived at my class, and I reached for my books. He tried to hand them to me, and once he thought I had them, he let go but still starred at me. I was too caught up in our gaze that the books dropped from my hands. I blushed up to him as his eyes still stayed glued on mine. We stood there like this for another minute, and I was getting really embarrassed. He noticed, and looked down to my books spread across the floor. I looked down too, and we both bent down at the same time. Doing this, we knocked heads and I fell backwards. I looked up to see that he had that worried expression as he started to reach for me. I held up my hand telling him to hold on, and he automatically stopped.

Then, I laughed. Laugh is not the right word. I was cracking up. I was rolling around on the floor, probably looking and sounding like an idiot. See, I hate my laugh. I sound like a five-year-old, but I didn't care. I was fine with whatever Jared thought about it. As I was laughing, his intense stare loosened, and he began laughing too. His laugh was different from mine. He beamed off beauty and life, where as I just looked stupid. With that thought, my laughter calmed, and I looked over to the lockers with a smile on my face. Then, his warm hand was under my chin turning my face towards his.

"You know, you sound like a five-year-old when you laugh," He chuckled as he finished his sentence. His eyes dug deep into mine, as if he were searching for something.

"I've been told so." All I could do was smile like the little fan girl I was. My dream was finally coming true.

"It's beautiful." He said with beauty, but not as much as he had when he was laughing with me. He seemed nervous and as if he was thinking this through in his head. His hand left my chin, and his fingers found their way along my cheekbone. I closed my eyes as his warm hand traced my cheek, and I felt him pull a piece of hair behind my ear. I opened my eyes and noticed he was standing by my side now. "I'll see you in math class," he whispered into my hair as he turned to walk away. I stood there dumbfounded, until I realized the people in the hallway that were also dumbfounded by what had just happened. I laughed at them, and walked into English, where I would pretend to pay attention but really think of Jared the whole time.

By the end of the period, I was twitching in my seat. I needed to see him. I needed to be close to him, and to feel his warmth radiating towards me. _This is unhealthy, Kimberly._ I snarled at the voice, and I couple of heads turned towards me. I blushed and looked down to my notebook. Then I realized Sarah wasn't here today. Weird, she usually would have called and told me.

My thoughts were interrupted by the bell, so I grabbed my purse and slung it over my shoulder. I walked to my math classroom, and my heart started to beat fast again. I was nervous, yet excited at the same time because I was going to get to see him. I walked through the door, and saw that Jared was sitting on top of my desk. I laughed at him, and he smiled back.

"Hey," He said as he nodded his head towards me. He seemed so comfortable around me, as if he had known me for years. Maybe he did feel the same way..._He does not, don't tell yourself that Kim._ I rolled my eyes to the voice. I sat down in my seat, and as soon as Jared opened his mouth to talk, Mrs. Martina walked in.

"Jared, take your seat. We have a pop quiz today," Jared looked at me with apologetic eyes as he walked away. I smiled at him to show that I accepted his apology, so he was satisfied and turned his face away from mine. I knew in order to finish this quiz, I couldn't look back to him because I get distracted. So I focused on the front of the room until I was passed a quiz, and I turned my attention to it. I could feel him starring at me the whole period, but I ignored him so that I could actually finish the quiz.

I got up to turn in my quiz, and his eyes still followed my body. I placed it on Mrs. Martina's desk, and noticed I was the first one done. I smiled, and turned on my heel to walk to my desk. Jared was still starring at me, and when he saw that I had noticed him watching me, he blushed. Jared actually blushed because of me, and he actually looked cute. I looked down to his quiz as I walked past, and saw that he hadn't even written his name down yet. I sat down in my desk, and shook my head at him. He gave me a puppy dog face, and I had to cover my mouth in order not to laugh. He smiled at me, then looked down to start his quiz.

After he turned in his quiz, he sat down and looked back over to me. As soon as he did sit down, the bell rang. He was over to my desk before I was even out of my seat. He grabbed my books, and I looked up to him with my eyebrows raised. He didn't say anything, so I just picked up my purse and started to walk.

"How did you finish to early? That was the hardest quiz I've done in my life," He talked to comfortably. I wanted to be like him. He was so...not nervous around me like I was around him.

"Well, I actually pay attention in class," that was a lie, "and I don't stare off into space while the teacher talks, unlike some people," I looked over to him to see him blushing, I was thinking about not saying anything, but I had to. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. "Oh, don't be embarrassed little Jared." I grabbed his cheeks like a grandma, and he let me. He just sat there and laughed as I did this.

"O.K., I'm sorry I'm not a nerd and that I don't know everything about probabilities. I mean, I don't get any of it. If only someone could tutor me..." He looked around the halls, and then back to me. Did he just ask for me to tutor him?

"I'll do it. I mean..since I'm so good at it, I just thought that I could help?" The last part wasn't supposed to sound like a question, but it came out like it. His face grew more excited when I spoke, and he smiled down to me.

"Cool, I was hoping you'd say that. Do you think we could go to your house today after school? My mom has this crazy work thing going on-""Yes. I mean, yeah, that's fine." I smiled back up to him. Jared was actually coming over to my house?

"Thanks. Kim, you're the best,"As if my heart wasn't beating fast enough, he hugged me and then began to walk in the opposite direction. I started walking towards Biology. Then a warm hand tugged me around, and Jared was standing in front of me.

"I almost forgot. Would you like to sit with me at lunch today?" My eyes widened. Me? Sit with you? Of course! _Play it cool, Kim. _

"Yeah, I'd like that." I smiled and continued my walk towards Biology class.


	8. Chapter 8

This took a long time again, and I'm really sorry about that guys! But to make up for it, this is super long! I hope you like it, it's a little different than the others, but it's my favorite so far. Please Read&Review!!!

P.S.- I don't own anything.

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It was almost lunch, and the whole day I was floating on a cloud. So when I walked into the lunchroom, I flipped. I had totally forgotten that I was sitting with Jared. Why did I say yes?! I can't handle this! I could feel my heart jumping out of my chest, and my palms were getting sweaty. _You're an idiot, and a complete fool. You should see yourself right now. _I didn't want to fight the voice because I knew it was right. I probably looked like I was dying right now.

I walked around the corner and rested my back onto the brick wall. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. You can do this, Kim. You can do this. I continued to tell myself this with my eyes closed until I heard someone walking from behind the wall. I kept my eyes closed because whoever it was probably didn't know who I was anyway. And at the moment, I don't really care because I'm still trying to muster up enough confidence to sit with Jared. And the footsteps stopped dead in front of me, and I opened one eye to see who it was.

"Kim?" A very familiar voice said my name, and my knees buckled. "What are doing here? I mean, standing here by yourself?" I opened my other eye, and saw Jared standing there. He looked very concerned, and tired. He looked like he was just running because his hair was a mess. And yet somehow, he looked _sexier_ with his hair messed up. I almost reached out and ran my hands through it, but I had to try with all of my strength to keep my arms by my side. His face grew deeply concerned and he took a step closer to me. I then realized I still hadn't said anything.

"Hi, Jared," that was all I could get out. As soon as I said his name, he let out his breath and his face grew lighter. I smiled back up to him. "I'm fine, I was just..." I hadn't thought of an excuse yet, crap! "I was just waiting for you. I don't know where you sit so...?" I raised my hands and gestured towards the door, hoping he would go to his table and drop the subject. He shook his head as he laughed at me and walked towards the door. He held it open for me, and then walked over to his table, which was empty. _At least he dropped the subject._ True, but now that that wasn't bugging me, something else was. Why was he sitting alone? He had plenty of friends before...

"Earth to Kim." Jared's hand was in front of my face waving back and forth, and I snapped back into reality. I hadn't even noticed I was sitting down at the table.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out and thinking about something." I was hoping he wouldn't ask what I was thinking about, but of course, he did. _Just lie to him. He just started hanging out with you, you don't need to get too personal. _I agreed with the voice. I was doing that a lot lately.

"What you were thinking about? You were pretty out there..." I heard his voice cracked with concern. Why does that happen all the time? I almost asked but I didn't want to get too personal. Lie, you have to lie to him. What though? Hm....ah! I'll say I was thinking about Sarah and where she was. But then I looked up to meet his eyes, and I stopped myself from lying. The truth just blurted out of my mouth.

"Why don't you sit with your old friends?" Both of our mouths hung open after it came out. Mine because I couldn't believe I just said that, and his the same(I think.) _Way to go, Kim! Think of something quick! _"Oh, I didn't mean to...I'm sorry, I was just wondering why you don't talk to them any-" he cut me off.

"Don't be sorry, Kim, you're just curious. And to answer it..." After he said not to be sorry, I wasn't. It's like my heart obeyed his word. And he trailed off and looked back to his old friends. I followed, and saw them staring at us in return. Me, being shy, looked back down to the table, and back up to Jared. But he was still looking back to his friends, and when his eyes flashed back to mine they were full of regret and anger. "I miss them, I really do. I just...everything is way more complicated than it used to be. Plus, I'm sure if I wanted to go back, no if I _could _go back to them, they wouldn't want me." Why did he think he couldn't go back to them? _Don't ask that Kim. _So pushing that aside, I did what seemed natural. I reached my arm out, and placed my hand on his arm. As soon as I did, a wave of electric current shot up my whole arm. My eyes widened, and I looked back up to him. His eyes were wide just like mine, and he had a grin spread on his whole face. Snap back into focus Kim.

"I'm sure they'd forgive you, Jared. If they truly are your friends then they'd have no problem accepting you." I finished off my sentence with a weak smile, hoping that it would convince him. He smiled back down to me, but then it faded and he looked back down to my hand on his arm. I totally forgot it was still there, and as soon as I did, I pulled it back and looked down to the table. When I looked bac up to him, he sighed and he looked in pain.

"Kim...that's just it. They were never really my friends. I was on the football team and so were they so we just started to hangout. They're all immature jerks. And since I'm not on the team anymore I don't hang with them." He hadn't looked up to me the whole time. Was he scared of me or something?

"You're not on the team anymore? Why?" There goes my big mouth again. I instantly regretted asking. His eyes shot up to look at me. He didn't answer, he just stared at me. His eyes were showing me everything about him. He was in pain for leaving his friends. He was tired from whatever reason. And as soon as they met mine, they glistened with beauty and life.

"Again, it's complicated." Of course he doesn't want to explain it to me, I mean we just started talking..._Told you so. _Right now, I hated that stupid voice.

"Oh..." I couldn't even keep my disappointment to myself. I heard my voice crack, even when saying the smallest work possible. Then, he grabbed my hands and placed them in his. And although his were much larger than mine, they fit perfectly.

"I'm sorry, Kim. I'll explain it to you later. I just...need time." He lifted his head from looking at our hands and back into my eyes. They asked for time, just along with his words.

"You know, you don't give me enough credit." He looked confused, and I laughed at his face. "I'm a very patient person. You can have all the time you want." He looked pleased with my answer, and I smiled back to him. _Why would you say that?! You are the most impatient person on this earth! _I knew this, but for his sake, I had to tell him he could have his time.

"O.K., let's go get something to eat." He let go of my hands, and they fell back into my lap. Instantly, I felt my heart drop. It was like I wasn't safe without him touching me. I sighed, and followed Jared into the lunch line. Lucky for us, it was cleared out and they were already putting seconds out. Jared grabbed a tray and walked forward.

I didn't know anyone could eat that much. I mean I know he's big and all, but he eats like he's a horse. He got three pieces of pizza, three hamburgers, two waters, and two cookies. He paid, and I took out two dollars for my water and bagel. The lunch lady laughed as I paid for my two items and Jared stood there with his two trays of food. He didn't see anything funny in the subject, he just stood there staring at me. I laughed along with the lunch lady, and as we walked back to our table, Jared was confused. I placed my bagel down, and sat down still laughing.

"Mind to fill me in on what's so funny?" He asked as he stuffed a piece of pizza in his mouth. He ate whole, as in one bite. My mouth fell open, and I sat there with my jaw hitting the floor.

"Do yo usually eat this much? I don't want to sound mean, but...I didn't even know it was possible to eat a piece of pizza in one bite." I cut my bagel in two, and started ripping off small pieces to eat at a time. And when I looked back to Jared, all of the pizza was gone, and there were only two hamburgers left.

"What can I say? I'm a growing boy." He patted his stomach, which made me laugh.

"I can't imagine you growing anymore. How tall are you exactly?" I asked out of general curiosity. He shoved one more hamburger in his mouth before answering me.

"Let's see...last time I checked, I was 6'5"."My eyes widened, and he laughed. He picked up the last hamburger and ate it.

"Are you kidding me?! I'm like...almost two feet shorter than you!" I laughed as I said this, and Jared joined me. This is how it should be, I thought. None of the serious stuff, just normal old Kim and Jared. That sounded nice...Kim and Jared.

"Kim..." I looked up to see that he was nervous. His hands were shaking as he reached out for my face. He placed both hands on each side of my face, and I felt my heart beat pick up. I shrunk back in my seat as I looked into his eyes. All the worry from before was gone. The only thing there now was the beauty and life. His face leaned closer to mine, and my breath hitched. His breath was close to my face. I could feel the warmth, and I could smell it. And of course before it got to intense, the bell rang. Just my luck.

He laughed as he dropped his hands from my face, stood up from the table, and held out his hand to help me up. I took it, and unlike the time at the beach, he let go. My heart ached. I needed him to touch me.

"I'll pick you up by your locker after school?" He asked. I nodded, and he smiled at me. I looked around and saw that no one was in the cafeteria still. He noticed too, and started to walk away. Before he turned his head away, he winked at me. My heart skipped a beat. I had to stand there, waiting for my breath to go back to normal before I could go to class.

I sat in study hall. It was even more boring than usual because Sarah wasn't here to talk to. I was trying to figure out why she hadn't called me and told me she wasn't going to be here. Maybe something bad happened. I sat there trying to convince myself that she was O.K., but I couldn't. I just kept getting this uneasy feeling that she wasn't O.K. I wanted to call her, or go talk to her. But I couldn't. I left my phone at home, and even if I did have it, it would be impossible to call her in the library. I sighed, and dropped the topic. Then my mind wandered to Jared.

These past two days have been the best days of my life. Mostly because he talked to me. But also because it felt like I've known him my whole life. He knew everything about me, and I knew everything about him. He could tell when something was wrong with me, and he was always concerned for me. I smiled to myself, and then the bell rang. My heart started beating fast because he was coming over to my house after school.

The whole walk to my locker, I was trying to calm my breathing down. But it didn't work. My inner fangirl was screaming and jumping up and down. I walked up to my locker, and just as expected, he was there. He smiled as soon as he saw me. This time, I winked at him. _What did you just do?!_ I laughed at the idiotic voice, and I reached Jared. He was still laughing at my wink attempt, so I just opened my locker and placed my books in it. I didn't have any homework, so I just slammed it closed, and looked to see Jared still laughing.

"Really? Was it that bad?" I started walking away, and heard him following behind me.

"Not really..." He burst into laughter again, and I just rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry...You should have...seen your face!" He managed to get out in between laughter. Normally, I would have been annoyed, but I just let him laugh at me.

When we got to my car, we was still smiling from my wink, and he pulled open my door as he took my bag and slung it around his shoulder. He slammed my door shut, and walked in front of my car. Walking isn't the right word...more like flaunting? He had my purse around his shoulder, and his arm popped up by his chest. He shook his butt as he walked, and stopped in the middle of my car. He flipped his hair, snapped his finger, and continued his girl walk to my car. He opened his door, sat down, and before I could laugh, he said, "Let's get out of her girlfriend," he truthfully sounded like a girl.

I burst into laughter. You know the annoying five-year-old laughter I told you about earlier? Yeah, that one. I was laughing so hard, I cried. I wiped the tears away as I looked to Jared, and saw that he was laughing along with me. But his was the beautiful, lively one. We sat there for ten minutes laughing at Jared's attempt to be a girl. When I finally recollected myself, I started the car and made my way to my house. Crap, he was coming to my house. I swallowed a huge wad of spit, and my heart started to pick up again.

"Kim? Are you O.K.? What's wrong?" _Way to kill the mood, Kim. _Oh, shut up. I looked over to Jared, and he was concerned, again. Now that I was looking at him, him being concerned wasn't as cute as I thought it was. It was actually kind of annoying.

"I'm fine, Jared. You worry WAY too much about me," I said as annoyance filled through every word. He blinked while still staring at me, then nodded his head in agreement as we pulled into my driveway. Thankfully, no one was home. He opened my door, and I walked up to the door.

He still had my purse, so I reached out to him to grab it. He handed it to me, and I noticed his hands were shaking. He's nervous, just like me. I smiled up to him to show him everything was O.K.. He smiled back to me, and I opened the door. I took a deep breath as I walked into my house. I walked through the living room and into the kitchen. I dropped my purse on the counter and walked to the fridge. Jared was looking around my kitchen as he sat down at the table.

"Woah. You have a really nice house." He was still taking in everything. I considered lying to him, but I knew it wouldn't work.

"Well, that's what you get when you have dictators as parents." I opened the fridge, but before I could reach for anything, it shut again. And Jared was standing there, looking concerned, yet again.

"What do you mean?" His voice even sounded concerned. I was getting really tired of this whole sympathy for Kim act.

"Oh, it's complicated...I'll explain it to you later, I promise." I almost smiled as I played his words. He nodded, and sat back down at the table. "So, do you want something to eat first? Or do you want to start with math right away?" I was hungry no matter what, so I opened the fridge door.

"Uh, if you don't mind...can we eat first? I'm starving." He was still hungry after the meal he just ate at lunch like two hours ago?

"I don't mind, Jared. I'll make us a pizza? Or did you have enough of that already today?" I pulled out the pizza from the freezer, and saw him sticking his tongue out to me. I laughed, and turned on the oven. "Well, why don't we multitask and do math while waiting for the pizza?" He nodded, and pulled out his notebook, math book, and a pencil. "So, what do you need help on?" He didn't answer, he just stared at his hands. "Jared, don't be afraid, just tell me. I don't mind helping you." He smiled and looked up to me.

"Er...everything?" I laughed because I thought he was kidding, but when I looked back to him, he looked hurt.

"Oh...sorry. I thought you were kidding. I...yeah, let's get started." I was truly sorry because he probably thought that I was a jerk for laughing at him.

After an hour of me doing all the work, he finally started getting everything. I was proud of him, and the fact that he was actually trying.

We already finished the pizza. Well, more like Jared ate the whole thing. And I was eating Wheat Thins with my feet on the table as he sat there trying to do a problem in the homework. I got up, and he didn't even notice because he was so into the problem. I was so happy I created my own little nerd. I put the Wheat Thins back into the pantry exactly were they had been before, and sat back down next to Jared.

"Is this right?" He asked as he slid the paper in front of me. I looked down and checked his work. Everything was right.

"It's right." I slid the paper back to him across the table, smiling.

"Really?! Awesome! I actually get it now! Thanks Kim!" He held up his hand, so I slapped it, laughing at how much of a kid he was. He didn't let go of my hand.

He held it and moved it in between all of his fingers. He traced the all the lines and scars I had on my hands. He didn't ask what they were from, and it wasn't really important. He moved my hand for me to his face, and even if he hadn't, I would have. I looked up to meet his eyes, and we sat there staring at each other. And every minute, Jared would move closer to me, making sure I was comfortable. My heart had completely stopped beating at this point. Was he actually going to kiss me?

"Jared..." He looked up to my eyes, and grabbed my hand off of his face. But instead of letting it drop, he kissed it. And he kept kissing it. He would place random, soft kisses all over my hand, and then he moved up my arm. I closed my eyes, not wanting him to stop. I smiled as he kissed up and down my neck, and all along my jaw. Then he stopped, and I opened my eyes. His face was right in front of mine, and he closed his eyes as he leaned in closer to me.

I've always thought about what it would be like to kiss Jared. I've always dreamed about, literally. But now that it was actually happening, I was more nervous than ever. I closed my eyes, prepared for his lips to reach mine. But they never did. Instead, the front door swung open, and I heard my mom walking down the hall.

I sat up, opening my eyes, and saw Jared sitting there with his eyes still closed. I pinched his arm, and his eyes flew open. They were bigger than usual, and they were full with desire, and lust, and love? Why would that happen? I smiled to him, as I got up, throwing the old pizza board away, and waiting for my mom to come into the kitchen. Jared started putting his stuff away. He was leaving? I frowned.

"Kimmy? Where are you? I brought home some pasta that we could make toget-" she stopped talking as soon as she saw Jared. He stood up from the table, and stuck out his hand for her to shake. Good boy, he caught on.

"Hello. I'm Jared, Kim's friend. She was helping me study." I looked back to me, and smiled. I looked past him to see my mom standing with her jaw reaching the floor. She collected herself before he turned back.

"Hello! It's so nice to meet some of Kimmy's friends! I never get to meet them!" She walked past him and placed the grocery bag on the counter and opened the fridge to put the stuff away. I looked over to Jared, and pretended to gag myself. He laughed silently, and walked to pick up his bag.

"Are you leaving?" I tried not sound sad that he was leaving, but I don't think it worked. He looked over to me and nodded.

"Oh, don't do that! Kimmy and I were going to make dinner, you should stay!" She didn't even look up to him to talk. She just kept working.

"Well, thanks for the offer, but my mom is probably wondering where I am. So, I'm just going to go home. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Connweller," He walked over to her and shook her hand again, and all she did was smile at him. He walked towards the door, and I realized he didn't have his car.

"I'll drive you home," I offered, but I was going to do it anyway. "Mom, I'll be back in a couple of minutes, I'm going to drive Jared home." She didn't answer, and I just ignored her. I grabbed my keys off the counter, and saw Jared standing outside the front door. I opened it and started walking towards my car. Jared grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"Kim, you don't have to drive me home. Are you supposed to be making dinner with your mom?" I was already out of his grip, and walking to my car.

"Jared, I don't mind driving you home. And I should be thanking you for getting me out of that house." I said as I turned on the car. He opened the passenger door and sat down next to me. My heart felt complete.

"So, is that why you don't like the name Kimmy?" He asked, and at this point, he knew everything about me but my parents, so I just decided to tell him.

"Partly, and I don't like it because it sounds like a little kid, and I am not a little kid. It just gets annoying, you know?" He looked confused, but nodded at me anyway. "Well of course you don't know. It gets annoying...trying to be perfect for her. She's a Barbie, Jared. Everything has to be perfect, or else she flips." I breathed in, and looked to see him shaking his head.

"Oh. Well, I'm sure she's just trying to give you what she never had." Hm, I've actually never thought about that before.

"Right...maybe." I didn't say anything else the whole ride to his house. When we pulled up, I just looked over to him and saw that he was nervous again. He looked from the door handle to me, and back to the door.

"Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow?" He asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yupp. See you later." What are we in fifth grade again? Do I have cooties? Is that why he doesn't want to kiss me? He opened the door, and ran into his house. I pulled away sighing, and drove slowly to my house.

When I got home, dad still wasn't home. I opened the door, and walked into to kitchen. My mom was still making dinner.

"Hey, Mom?" She didn't look up at first, but after a minute, I coughed, and she jumped.

"God! Kim, don't do that to me! Where were you?" Wow, does everything I say just fly over her head.

"I told you, I drove Jared home." She placed the spoon down, and walked around the counter. She hugged me, and I awkwardly hugged her back. "Mom, what are you doing?"

"My little Kimmy is growing up! I knew making you over would attract some boys. And good golly! Jared is one big, tall, and handsome young man!" She walked back over to her pasta and sauce, and I finally got what she was saying.

"Oh, mom! It's not like that. He's just a friend, I swear." But truth be told, I was really sure what he was. Was he just a friend?

"O.K., you kids keep telling yourselves that. But I know what goes on behind closed doors." She winked, and I knew it wasn't worth putting up a fight.

"Well, do I have to eat? I already ate after school." I walked over to pick up my purse, and started walking towards the stairs.

"Alright Kimmy! I love you!" I didn't answer her, I just kept on walking.

I shut my door closed behind me, dropped my purse on my desk, and flopped my body onto my bed. I looked over to my night stand and saw my phone. I grabbed it and I had one missed call, one new voice mail, and one new text. I read the text first, it was from Sarah.

_Hey, I'm staying home today cause I'm sick. I'll be back tomorrow, don't miss me too much._

I laughed, and listened to the voice mail, which was from Sarah. She said the same thing she did in the text message, so I shut my phone and placed it back on my night stand. My mind started thinking about Jared again.

I can't believe he almost kissed me. I mean, was I just imagining it? No, I couldn't have been, because I pinched him when he was sitting there with his eyes closed. But why would he want to kiss me? I mean, we just officially "met" on Monday. But then again, we have been talking a lot and getting to know each other...

And then it was just so awkward in the car. Maybe he was trying to tell me that earlier was a mistake. And that he didn't actually mean to almost kiss me.

But the way he looked at me made me want to believe that he did want to kiss me. I've never seen anyone with such emotion written on their face, not even my mom and dad, and they've been married for almost twenty years.

I can't do this. My mind is being torn apart. And with every new tear comes new pain in my heart. And I'm not sure how much pain my heart can control. It's already been through enough over the years, but the past two days have been the worst it's ever been through.

One minute Jared will be concerned for my well-being with the worried look on his face, and the next he'll have the desire face on and he'll almost kiss me. Does he have bipolar disorder or something? I smiled, and decided that was a good place to stop thinking. Otherwise, I'd end up mad with myself, or even worse, with Jared.

It was only 7:30, but since I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, I got up and threw some pajamas on. I didn't notice my blinds were open until I already had my shirt off, so I quickly threw it over my head, and ran to my window to shut them. But right as they were about to fall, I saw something.

It was a huge brown blob. And when it stopped moving, I could see what it was. It was a huge bear. The fur was a dark brown. I knew it couldn't be a bear. Well, what else could it be? I was about to completely close my blinds, when I looked into it's eyes.

Jared. The bear was Jared. It had to be, the bears eyes were the same shape and size and color of Jared's. I stood there, deciding what to do. I just let the blinds fall, covering up the window.

I then realized what I had been thinking, and laughed. It couldn't be Jared. That's impossible. It was just a bear. I was trying to convince myself it wasn't him as I walked to the bathroom to get ready for sleep.

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What did you think?! Did you like the almost kiss? Tell me in a review!!! Thank you guys!


	9. Chapter 9

I am sooooo sorry!!! I've been super busy with finals, cheerleading, projects in school and such...But now it's summer! So I'll be updating more frequently! Please review! Your comments help me write longer and faster! Thanks for everything.

I don't own anything either.

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I'm sitting in my car waiting for school to start. My mom made me wear a dress with leggings today, but it's not that bad. But of course the one day I wear a dress, it rains and is freezing outside. That's why I'm sitting in my car. The heat is blasting, and I have my hands over the vent like it's a fire. My body is finally warming up when the first bell rings. I grabbed my bag, took a deep breath, and ran inside.

When I made it to my locker, Sarah is standing there. I smiled to her, but she scowled at me. I swallow I lump in my throat and walk towards her.

"You are in SO much trouble, Kim!" She pointed her finger at me when she said my name.

"What did I do this time?" I ask innocently as we start to walk to English. I look through my bangs to see her jaw dropped.

"What did you do?! Are you kidding me?! You talked to Jared! Everyone's talking about you two! And I'm like the last person to hear about it!" She had her hands up in the air as she talked, and I could tell she was honestly hurt. I stopped walking before we walked in the door.

"I'm sorry, OK? But you were sick yesterday and I didn't want to bother you..." I looked at her to see that her anger had faded, but she was still sad. "Listen. You can come by after school and you will be the first one to hear about everything. And that includes after school too," Her eyes went wide. Crap. No one even knows about that yet. I smiled weakly and walked into English.

As Mr. Allen went on about Romeo and Juliet, I zoned out thinking about Jared. I hadn't seen him yet today. Maybe he wasn't here...no, he has to be. He said he'd see me at school. I sighed, and starting thinking about how close he was to kissing me. My head sunk into my hands, and when I looked back up, everyone was staring at me. My face flushed, and I couldn't understand why they were all looking at me.

"Well Mrs. Connweller? Do you have the answer?" Mr. Allen asked and I looked back up to him. I glanced to Sarah to see her looking at me encouragingly. She nodded her head as if to tell me it was O.K., but it wasn't. I didn't even know the question, how was I supposed to know the answer.

"Uh, no. Sorry, Mr. Allen." I looked down to my desk, too afraid that everyone would make fun of me. Some people did snicker in the back, and I slid deeper in my desk. I looked up to see Mr. Allen shocked and shaking his head. He turned back to the board and began writing something, and then the bell rang. I quickly picked up my bag and ran out of the room before Sarah could attack me.

I walked to math, still unaware I was actually walking to math class. My mind was too busy trying to calm my body down from the embarrassment. My face was still burning, but not as much as before. My hands were getting less sweaty, until I saw Mrs. Martina standing outside the door. Math class, crap. My hands just got more sweaty than before, and my face flushed again. I totally forgot I was going to math class, where Jared is.

When I walked in, he wasn't there. Cool, maybe he's just late. But the bell rang when I sat down in my desk, and my heart sank. After five minutes, he still wasn't there. Mrs. Martina seemed just as disappointed as me. She handed back the quizzes from yesterday. I got a one hundred and three percent. I was happy, but I couldn't smile. I was still sad about Jared not being here. I didn't get why he wouldn't tell me. _Maybe it's because he doesn't care about you like you thought. _Maybe the voice is right...no. He tried to kiss you, Kim. Mrs. Martina started teaching the class about cross multiplication, so I zoned out again.

What seemed like two minutes later, the bell rang. I gathered my stuff, and walked slowly to Biology. We worked with our lab partners, and my just happened to be Paul. I was actually surprised that he hadn't picked on me yet, but this would ruin it. I rolled my eyes and made my way to our lab table. Paul wasn't here. That's weird...oh well. I was happy. This way he couldn't make fun of me. It was easier for me to work alone anyway.

I finished the lab with a half an hour left of class, so I sat there staring at the wall the whole time. I couldn't think about Jared anymore. He obviously didn't care about me because he wasn't here. The bell rang, and I jumped out of my seat and practically ran to lunch.

I pushed though the doors and found Sarah sitting by herself, working on homework. I smiled as I walked up to her, and sat down across from her. She finished her problem, and looked up to me.

"So, spill," I laughed, and walked away shaking my head as I went to ger lunch. As I waited in line, someone actually came up to me. Finally, someone got the guts to talk to the "new" girl.

"Hey, are you new here? I haven't seen you before." I turned around, and saw a sophomore standing there. I think his name was Quil. I smiled up to him. Why was every guy in this town so darn tall? I grabbed some fruit and a water and placed it on my tray.

"Um, actually, no. I've lived here my whole life. I'm Kim. Kim Connweller. I'm a junior..." I trailed off because he looked back to his friends and mouthed something that made them laugh. I rolled my eyes, paid for my food, and started walking back to my table.

"Kim! Wait!" I turned on my heel to see Quil running back up to me. "I was just wondering...do you want to maybe...like go out with me? On a date I mean, to get to know each other?" His hands were shaking, and I could tell he was nervous. I would have been nervous too, but I was too shocked. Did he honestly just say that? A boy, asking me out? I blinked after what seemed five minutes, and gathered up enough courage to talk.

"Um...I don't think that's a good idea..." I looked at the floor the whole time I talked.

"Why? I'm just asking to be friends, you know, get to know each other. You could hangout with me and my friends." He looked back to his table of friends that were staring at us.

"Uh...I don't know...For all I know, you guys could take me and rape me." I looked back up to Quil, to see him smiling.

"Ah, she's got a sense of humor. Here," he took out a small piece of paper and scribbled down a number. "Call me sometime if you want to take me up on my offer." He handed it over and smiled at me.

I looked down nervously at the paper and back up to him. "Yeah, I will. Thanks." I walked back over to Sarah, whose jaw was dropped on the floor.

"What. Was. That?!" I laughed as I told her what Quil had said. She didn't say anything after I finished telling my story, so I shrugged my shoulders and starting eating my fruit.

"You know, I don't get why you're so shocked about this. I mean look at me, I'm a babe." I could even hear the sarcasm in my voice as I said this, and we both started laughing. "I don't know why he talked to me...but he seemed nice so I think I might give him a call." I shoved the last piece of fruit and got up to throw my garbage away. I sat down again and took a sip of my water bottle.

"Are you kidding? I know why he talked to you. You're hot!" This made me spit out the water in my mouth. I laughed for a while, but noticed Sarah wasn't laughing along.

"Wait. You're being serious? I wasn't. I was kidding." I looked down to my hands that were sitting on my lap.

"Kim. You've always been gorgeous. But now since your mom has been dressing you up, you've just...blossomed. That sounds lame, I know. But it's true. You're so pretty. I can see why all of the guys drool over you when we walk in the hall." She took another bite of her sandwich, and then threw her stuff away. She sat down across from me and waited for my reply.

"What are you talking about?" I was nervous to hear what she had to say.

"You don't see it? It's kind of obvious. They all stare at you like they're five again and you're the shiny, new toy. All of the other girls are getting pissed 'cause you're all the guys talk about; you're stealing their spotlight. I, on the other hand, think that it's about time you got the attention you need." I was speechless. Did all of the guys really do that? I found it hard to believe.

"Sarah, I don't honestly believe you. I mean-" She put her hand up, so I stopped talking.

"If you don't believe me, look around. They're all looking over here, and it's not because of me." I normally would have fought with her about that, but I looked up and saw every male in this lunch period staring at me. My face would have flushed, but it didn't. I actually kind of liked the attention.

"Well...this is awkward..." Sarah laughed at me. She opened her mouth to say something, probably about Jared. But the bell rang. I smiled to her, and walked to history.

The rest of the day went by so slowly, I felt like I could die. When I walked in the halls during passing periods, I did notice all of the stares. It was weird, having all the guys look at me in that way. It made me feel uncomfortable, yet happy all at the same time.

At the last bell, I walked to my locker to see Sarah standing there. I opened my locker, and like yesterday, I had no homework. I emptied my hands filled with books into my locker, and slammed it shut. Sarah was already walking towards my car, so I had to run to catch up with her.

Once we got inside my car, she put the whole Jared subject off. She asked if I knew the latest gossip around the school, and I told her no, so she continued her stories until we made it to my house. My parents weren't home yet. _Thank God. _Yeah, you said it.

I opened the front door as Sarah continued on with the latest juice on Mr. Lee. Apparently, he had "sexual intercourse," as Sarah said, with a student, and now he was getting fired. We walked into the kitchen, and I saw a note on the counter.

_ Kimmy, your father and I are going to Port Angeles for the day to shop around. Make yourself something to eat, we'll be home late._

_Love, Mom. _

_P.S.- Call John, he's worried about you._

"Hey, my parents won't be home so you can stay as long as you want." She nodded, and walked to the fridge to grab a water. "Hey, toss me one of those." She grabbed one for me, and sat down next to me at the kitchen table.

"So...what happened with Jared!? I've been dying to know, Kim!" She grabbed my arm in desperation, and I laughed.

"Uh...well...where do I start?" She put her hands up as if she was saying 'I don't know.' I sighed, and decided to start in math class. "O.K., so he was actually at school two days ago as you know, and in math class, Mrs. Martina told him he could borrow my notes since he was gone. He didn't have a pencil, so I lent him one. And when he looked me in the eye, he stopped talking. Me being the nervous geek I am, turned back around and didn't look back the whole period."

"Kim! The one time he actually talks to you-" I laughed at her.

"Would you let me finish?!" She pretended to zip her lips shut. "And when the bell rang, I nearly ran out of class, but he stopped me to give me my pencil. Then there was intense staring thing we did, and I got really nervous, so I fled the premises. And then the whole lunch fiasco happened and yeah." I stopped to take a breath, and Sarah was sitting at the edge of her seat waiting for me. "Then we walked away from you at lunch, and he asked me to go to the beach with him after school. Of course I said yes. We went, and I can say I had an awesome time. We got to know each other a lot.

"Then the next day, we had this pop quiz in math, and after it he said he think he failed, so I offered to tutor him. He agreed, and we decided he'd come over to my house after school. And he asked if I could sit with him at lunch. That's when I realized you weren't there and that I could sit with him."

"Well I'm glad to see you pay attention to me!" I glared at her. "Oh, right! Continue, please!"

"So we sat together at lunch. And then he came over after school and I helped him with his math for about an hour. And then...well he got this one tough problem right and he gave me a high five and one thing lead to another and...he...almost kissed me?" It sounded like a question and it wasn't meant to. I looked to see Sarah's mouth hanging open. I played back the story in my head. I left out a couple of details but that's pretty much the whole thing.

"**HE. WHAT?!**" I know she didn't mean to scream it, but it was kind of loud."Jeez, calm down. He almost kissed me, but as soon as he was close enough, my evil mother walked through the door." I sighed, playing the events over and over in my head.

"Kim! Do you know how big this is?! This is awesome! He finally noticed my little Kimmy!" She jumped up out of her seat and onto me. I laughed as I hugged her back.

"Thanks? I'm glad one person took it well." She looked confused. "It's John. He knew about Jared from the start, and when I called him and told him all of this, he...I don't know. He was mean about it."

"He was mean, or protective? Like a big brother should be?" Darn, she was always right.

"I guess...I'll call him after you leave." I got up to throw away our garbage, and Sarah got up too.

"I have to go now anyway, I have to watch my brother. Call me after you talk to John, okay?" She hugged me, and walked out the door. I rubbed my head with my hand, and took a deep breath in. You have to talk to him eventually Kim, just do it now. I picked up my purse, and ran up the stairs to my room.

I picked up the phone, and dialed half of his number. But I hung the phone up before I could finish. _Just do it, Kim. You're such a baby. _You're right, I just have to do it. I picked it up again, and dialed the whole number. I hit send and let out a loud sigh. It rang twice before he picked up.

"Kim? Is that you?" He sounded tired.

"Yeah, John, it's me." I was such a terrible sister.

"Oh, thank god! I'm so sorry Kim! I didn't mean anything I said. I was just being a big brother to you. You know I love you, and if he makes you happy, then I won't object."

"Thanks, John. I know, I love you too. And I'm sorry for hanging up on you and not calling you back. I feel terrible. I just...I really like him, and you know that. So I guess I was just expecting you to be happy for me, but I can see where you're coming from. I'm sorry." I twirled the cord around my finger, hoping that John would accept my apology.

"Kim, don't be sorry, it was my fault. O.K.?"

"O.K." I smiled into the phone, and I could tell he was probably doing the same. "So, what's up with you? Any new girls?"

"Actually, there is one...her name is Chloe. She's beautiful, Kim. She is so smart, and funny, and just great. I think I love her."

"John, I'm glad you finally found someone who can put up with you." I laughed into the phone, and heard him doing the same. "So when are you coming to visit me, huh? I'm dying here without you."

"Yeah, about that-" He got cut off by the door ringing.

"Can you hold that thought? Someone's at the door." I was already walking down the stairs. I swung open the door, but no one was standing there.

"Kim? Who is it?"

"No one, just a prank I guess." I was about to shut the door when I heard a little rustling coming from around the corner. My heart started to beat super fast. I was truthfully scared. "John, are you still there?"

"Yeah." He was whispering now, and I didn't know why. I took a deep breath, and rounded the corner. I saw a tall man standing there with a pair of jeans and a striped polo.

"Hello? Who are you?" The phone was still in my ear, and I saw that the man standing also had a phone in his hand.

"Kim? Can I call you back later? I need to talk to someone." The phone went dead, and I noticed when I heard John speak, the man standing also talked. It couldn't be...and the he turned around.

"John!" I ran over to him and jumped on him. I wrapped my legs around him as I hugged him. "Why are you here?! I mean, why aren't you in school?!" I leaned my head away from his body, and he smiled as he set me down on my feet.

"Well, school ended for me already. And I was getting worried that you hated me so I decided to pay you a visit." It started to rain as we stood in the driveway, and we were getting pretty wet.

"Let's go inside before we get drenched." I pulled his hand towards the house, and dragged him into the kitchen, where I started making dinner for us. "Are you hungry? I'm guessing you are. How long are you here for?"

He laughed at me. "I see someone's excited that I'm here." He got up to help me cook some food. "I'm here for about two weeks, that's if mom and dad will let me stay. And I'm starving."

"I know you too well." He started to put a pot of water on the stove, but I ran up behind him and hugged him again.

"I'm happy I'm here too." He hugged me back, and I let go and went back to cooking. While we cooked, I filled him on everything that happened with Jared, even the almost kiss. At first he was mad, but then he got over it. He filled me in on how he met Chloe and all about her. From everything he told me, I felt like I knew her.

We ate dinner, still filling each other in on our lives. It was around nine o'clock when mom called and said they'd be home in five minutes. We hid John in their room, in my mom's closet. I waited impatiently downstairs for them to come home. And then the door opened slowly, and I saw my mom walk upstairs quietly.

"Mom!" She jumped when I called her. I laughed at her.

"Kimmy! Don't do that! You scared me to death! Why are you still up? It's getting late and you have school tomorrow." She was still walking up the stairs, and I was beginning to follow. I looked out the front door and saw my dad walking up with his hands full with bags. My mom was already walking into her room and I smiled. "Did you call John?" I nodded, unable to open my mouth because I would have laughed. She walked through her door, past her bed, and into her closet. I saw the light flicker on, and she screamed. I laughed. My dad came running into their room.

"What's wrong?" I pointed to the closet, and he walked over slowly, expecting the worst. I laughed and followed him into the closet. My mom was still hugging John when my dad went up and shoved her aside to hug him. I sat there smiling. Finally, we're all back together. They asked the same questions I had, and after an hour, I went to bed.

I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. This had been one of the most boring days in my life, mostly because Jared wasn't at school. But then John came home, and it made my day. I was so glad that he came back, I missed him so much. Pushing thoughts of John aside, I began to think about Jared.

I know he cares about me because he told me he did, and it was kind of obvious. I mean, he was talking to me, and he ditched his old lunch table to sit with me. He seemed happy around me. And I know I was happy around him. He made me feel complete, whole. When he was near, my heart soared.

Then he goes and ditches school and doesn't tell me anything about it. Maybe he stayed home with Paul...no, they were never friends. But I did see them in the parking lot the other day. I'm just so confused with everything.

I'm hoping that he does actually like me. It would be my dream come true. I've always wanted him to notice me. In my dreams, we lived happily ever after once he noticed me. But now that he actually has noticed me, it's way more complicated than that. He never explains himself to me. "It's complicated," he said. No, it's annoying. I would like to know what's going on in my friends life. We were friends right? I sighed, and rolled over. I need sleep. I went to bed dreaming of Jared, as usual.


	10. Chapter 10

Here's a super long chapter for you guys! I hope you like everything. Please please please review! I love hearing all of your comments about my writing.

P.S.- I don't own anything.

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I used to be the kind of girl who was excited to go to school. I would get up out of bed and jump around my room. I was always so eager to learn new things. That sort of thing is very uncommon among high school students. Everyone always said they were just so bored, and I never knew what they meant. Now I do. There's absolutely no reason to be here. It feels like I'm learning nothing new. I could literally fall asleep in all of my classes.

Math used to be my favorite subject too, but right now it's my least favorite. I think it's because before, he was in my class, and I was always just excited to see him. Everyone else is taking a make-up quiz for the quiz we took two days ago. And since I got a hundred and six, I didn't need to retake it. So I'm sitting here, waiting for everyone else to finish. I usually would have loved this because I could sit here and stare at Jared without him knowing. But not today.

He's not here, again. And it feels like I'm dying. It's like I need him here to function. It's Friday, so I was hoping that he would be here so we could hang out after school, but he obviously has other plans.

I'm still beating myself up over this whole thing. He acts like he likes me, but then he doesn't pull through. I'm sick of it. I just need to talk to him. I need to ask him the things on my mind and not hold back. So I've decided then. Next time I see him, I'll attack him with all of my questions. I smiled to myself, knowing that I had finally made my mind up about something Jared related. Then the bell rang, and everyone filed out of the classroom as fast as possible.

In Biology, we were working on the labs from yesterday, and since I already finished, I'm stuck here for about and hour with nothing to do. And just like yesterday, Paul isn't here. That's just great. I'm beginning to think that he's with Jared because I saw them in the parking lot the other day...no, they can't be. They're not even friends. And Jared was going to ditch me for Paul? I don't think so...

"Kim, you're done already?" My teacher interrupted my thoughts. I nodded shyly up to him, and he reached for my packet to check my work. He flipped through all the pages, and nodded to himself. "Very nice work. I'm sorry you're stuck here all by yourself. I don't know where Paul is, he's going to be s behind on everything..." He trailed off and things got awkward.

"I could stop by and give him a packet." _WHAT!? _"I mean...the materials are pretty simple and I know where he lives so I could just stop by and give them to him." What did I just do? My teacher smiled to me.

"I knew you would be nice enough to do this for me. I hope you don't mind since it is Friday and all..."

"Oh, I don't. Really, it's fine." _I mind! _I smiled to my teacher before placed a blank packet down and walked away. I can't believe I just did that. I don't even know what made me do it. I've never said more than two words to Paul, so I was I offering to be so nice to him? He was always so mean to me.

But if I could get inside his house somehow, I could see if Jared was there...no. I can't. I won't do that. I'm not like that. _Just shut up and do it. _I need to do this, I have to figure this all out. I took the packet, and put it in my folder.

How can people be so stupid? If they could just finish this freaking lab we could actually talk. But since people are too dumb to do this, I have to sit here in silence. The minutes passed by, and what seemed like a day later, the bell rang. I ran in front of everyone to get out of the small classroom, and when I got out, I was gasping for fresh air.

I walked slowly to the cafeteria. And when I got there, Sarah was waiting in our usual spot. I waved to her, and pointed to the lunch line. She shook her head, so I shrugged and walked towards it to get a lunch. I had just placed a sandwich and water on my tray when someone tapped my shoulder. Before I turned around, I paid for my food. I swirled around, already knowing who would be there.

"Hey," I love how nervous I make people. I mean, he's a mess. Just looking at him made me nervous.

"Hello, Quil. What's up?" He smiled at me, and I noticed his teeth were really white. I smiled back to him.

"Nothing really. Just wondering if you thought about my offer," he looked nervously down to his hands as he spoke.

"I don't..." I trailed off. Maybe I should hang out with him. Maybe it would make Jared jealous if he saw us together. Sarah told me once that boys like to play hard to get. "Actually. Yeah, I think we should hang today. You know, get to know each other." I loved how I played on his words. His head snapped up, and his face looked shocked.

"Really?" His voice was full of doubt.

"Really. Why are you so shocked? I never told you no. I just said I didn't know." I was surprised at how comfortable I was with him.

"I don't know. I just...I never thought you would actually say yes." I laughed at him.

"Don't beat yourself up, Quil." He nodded and smiled down to me. "Alright, I just have to run something over to someone after school. So, I'll call you when I'm down and I can meet you somewhere?" He nodded yes to my question. So I turned to walk away. As I walked, I looked back to see Quil still standing there, looking like an idiot smiling at me. I laughed as I walked back to my table with Sarah.

"What was that?" She asked as I sat down and began to open my sandwich.

"Oh, nothing. I just told him I would hang out with him today." I said and placed a piece of my sandwich in my mouth. Sarah did the same.

"Cool." She sounded a little hurt.

"Sarah, do you want to come too? I'm sure he wouldn't mind..." I felt bad for not asking before. I've always been a terrible friend.

"It's fine. You go have fun. I have to babysit my brother again, anyway." She sounded a little better, but I still wasn't convinced. I was about to say something, but she burst out laughing.

"Sarah, what are you doing...? Why are you laughing?" I was honestly confused, one second she was mad at me, and the next she was laughing at me?

"I...I...hold on." She was still smirking to herself, and she reached for her water. She coughed a little before she could speak.

"I just...while you were talking, Quil's table all looked over here. And someone said something to him that made him smile, and he's still looking at you, when it seems his whole tale has moved on with the conversation."

"What?" I asked.

"Yupp. I think he likes you. I mean look. Well, not now. He's still looking over here, I can see him from the corner of my eye." I looked over to see him staring at me with that goofy smile on his face. I waved to him, and he waved back, still in a daze. I laughed as I turned back to Sarah, who was talking about some new gossip. I pretended to listen as I drifted off into Jared land.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. Every class seemed to be at least five hours long, some seemed longer. But when the last bell rang, I got nervous. I'm supposed to go to Paul's to drop off his Bio packet. I can't do this. _You have to. _I know I do, but... _No buts. Just go. _I listened to the voice, and let my feet carry me to my car.

I drove to his house, which happened to be on my block, and as soon as I pulled into his driveway, my heart stopped beating. Jared's car was in the driveway. Maybe it's someone else's...but it can't be. It has that football sticker in the same place as Jared's does. My palms got sweaty. I opened the door, and let out a loud sigh. I walked up to the front door as slow as I could, trying to convince myself to just do it. When I made my way to door, I breathed in, and rang the doorbell.

I sat there for about two minutes, not hearing any movement inside. No one's home. Thank god. I began to walk away when I heard the door open.

"Kim?" I turned around to see Paul.

"Hi, Paul. I just came by to give you this Biology packet that we've been working on." I walked back over to him to hand it to him. He took it from my hands, and looked down to me.

"Thanks, Kim." I nodded, and started to turn around when someone came walking up behind Paul.

"Paul. How many times do we have to tell you to stay in bed?" It was Jared. Oh god, kill me now. "Kim? What are you doing here?" Paul backed up and started to walk towards the couch to lay down, and Jared stepped outside and shut the door.

"I just dropped off some homework for Paul." I didn't want to look up to him. I was mad at him, but if I looked at him that would all wash away.

"Oh, I see." He said. It was so awkward to be around him. He was definitely hiding something from me, but I didn't know what.

"Yeah, I better get going. See you later." I walked away without looking at him. Yes, it was a success! But then he grabbed my hand and spun me around. I gave in, and looked up to him with my eyebrows raised. Thankfully, the madness didn't fade.

"I'm sorry, Kim." He sounded hurt.

"For what?" I didn't really care what he was going to say, I was still mad.

"For not calling you, or coming to school, or not talking to you. I just...important things happened and-" I cut him off.

"What things? Like taking care of Paul? Is that more important than me? Wait, let me guess, yes? If you don't like me, just tell me." He looked hurt when I said this. But he didn't respond. "Yeah, whatever. I have plans and I need to go." I ripped my arm out of his grip, and walked to my car.

I didn't look back to him as I started the car and pulled away. Tears started falling down my cheeks just as I looked to see him standing there, still looking hurt by me. And if it was possible, when he say me crying, he looked ever more hurt than before. I sped off down the street and pulled into my driveway. I ran out of the car and into the house. I slammed the door, and slid down it. I sat down and started crying.

I couldn't believe I actually thought he would like me. Of course he didn't. He didn't say anything when I did. I was just too star struck to actually look at the details. Why would a jock hottie want a nerdy freak?

"Kim? Is that you?" I heard John call from upstairs. I stood up, and wiped the tears off of my face. I couldn't let him see me like this. I glanced to the mirror to see my face a little red, and my eyes swollen. I blinked really fast to make the swelling go down, and rubbed my face to stop the redness. Just as I started looking normal, I heard John walking down the stairs.

"Hey, John." I was actually proud that my voice didn't crack. I smiled to him. He thought for a minute, but then smiled back to me.

"How was school?" He asked as he walked to the kitchen. I followed him, and sat down at the table.

"Good, I guess." I grabbed an apple from the bowl and took a bite.

"Just good? What happened?" I faked a laugh, and looked to see him standing by the counter looking at me.

"Nothing happened. It's just boring. That's all." He had his eyebrows raised as he shook his head and continued making a sandwich. "I just don't learn anything. I feel like I know everything." He nodded in agreement and walked to the table. He sat down next to me, and took a bite.

Once he finished his sandwich and I finished my apple, we sat there not talking.

"So what are we doing tonight?" He broke the silence. I jumped when he talked, and he laughed.

"I...actually have plans for tonight." I said, just remembering I was hanging with Quil. John looked shocked, so I threw my apple core at him.

"Wow, Kim. I'm impressed." I stuck my tongue out at him, and got up from the table. I grabbed my purse, and dug through it to find my keys. When I found them, John was standing by the sink.

"I'll be back later, call me if you need me." He nodded, and I walked to the door.

When I got inside my car, I reached into my purse to find Quil's number and my phone. Once I found both, I dialed his number. It only rang once before he answered.

"Hello? Who is this?" He sounded kind of mad.

"Guess." I laughed.

"Kim?" He sounded in doubt still.

"You got me. So, where should I meet you?" I asked as I started the car.

"Well, me and my friends are at the diner. Want to come here?"

"Sure, I'll see you in a few minutes." I hung up the phone and pulled out of the driveway. The diner was no more than five minutes away. As I passed by Paul's house, I saw Jared's car still there. I rolled my eyes, and drove down the street faster than before. I turned the radio on, and began to tap my fingers along with beat.

I got to the diner, and it was pretty packed. A lot of students come here after school on Fridays. I, on the other hand, am a loser, and have never been here on a Friday. I laughed to myself as I yanked open the front door. Everyone stopped talking when I walked in, and I saw Quil stand up and nod to me. I made my way over to his table in the back, and saw two other kids sitting with him.

"Hey." I said as I took my coat off and put it around the back of the empty chair.

"Hi." Quil sounded pretty stupid. Like a little kid. He sat there staring at me. I looked back from him to his friends. One of them coughed, and the other punched Quil's arm. He snapped back into reality. "Oh, right. This is Jacob," he said as he pointed to the one who punched him, "And this is Embry," that was the one that coughed. "Guys, this is Kim." He pointed back to me.

"Hi." I said nervously. I felt my face burn up.

"Oh, we know." Jacob said. Quil punched his arm, and Embry and I laughed. "I was kidding man! No need to kill me!" Quil looked back to me, sorry written all over his face. I smiled to him to say it was O.K. He smiled back to me. "So, Kim. Tell us about yourself." Jacob spoke, breaking my stare from Quil.

"What's there to know? Let's see...I'm seventeen, so a junior. I've lived in La Push my whole life. I have one brother. And my parents...well let's just say they're...very...loving?" I guess that was the right word to say.

"Loving? Is that good or bad?" Quil asked with concern in his voice.

"Bad, very bad. My mom control's everything I do. And my dad is really overprotective. It gets annoying." I had no idea why I was telling them all of this.

"I'm sorry, Kim," Quil said with concern again. "Is your brother bad too?"

"Oh, no. I love him. He's like my best friend, besides Sarah of course. He and I are exactly alike." I smiled thinking about John.

"That's cool," Jacob said.

"Sure," I said. Everyone stopped talking. It got awkward for a moment, so I decided to talk. "What about you guys? I don't know anything about any of you." I placed my hands on the table, trying to be more comfortable in this situation.

"I thought you'd never ask." Jacob said wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed. "Well, us three have been best friends since we were in diapers."

"Aw, really? That's so cute." They all laughed at me, and I joined in.

They all took turns telling me about themselves. After an hour of talking, I felt like I knew them forever. I was so comfortable around them, it was weird. I was usually never like this around a guy, especially a group of them. But I guess I felt safe, like they wouldn't judge me.

We ate, played games, and talked all night. We ditched the diner since it was nice out and walked a couple of blocks to a park. I sat down on a swing as Jacob and Embry went off to the teeter totter. I felt a light push from behind me, and saw Quil standing there. I let him push me until I got really high. I giggled as he pushed me, and I truly felt little again. He stopped pushing me, and I slowly stopped swinging. He sat down on the swing next me.

"Thanks. That was fun," I said as I smiled to him. He smiled back. I looked away to see Embry and Jacob on top of the roof of the play set. I laughed, and looked back to Quil. He wasn't there. I looked around me, but I couldn't find him. Then I fell backwards. I didn't land hard, his hands were there to catch me. I laughed as I laid on the ground. Then I noticed him on top of me.

Normally I would have freaked out, but I didn't. I felt happy around him. Not as happy as I am when I'm with Jared, but oh well. He leaned down slowly, making sure I was O.K. with it, so I smiled up to him. He smiled back, and kissed me. It was just a light peck, but it still felt good. There wasn't really fireworks, but I did get a little butterflies in my stomach. He pulled away, and I opened my eyes to see him smiling down to me. I heard Jacob howl, and Embry clapping. I rolled my eyes. Quil got up, stuck out his hand for me, and helped me up. Once I got up, he didn't let go of my hand. He walked me over to a bench and sat down. I sat down next to him, and he placed his arm around me. We sat like this for a couple of minutes without talking.

"Hey, Kim?" Quil asked.

"Yeah?" I was afraid because I knew what he was going to ask. I have to many feelings I can't make up my mind. I practically love Jared, but then Quil shows me that there are other people in the world. I just don't think I can give up on Jared that easy...but then again he doesn't even care about me.

"I was thinking...you would maybe be, I mean if you want to, my...my..."He didn't have to finish his sentence. I knew what he was saying. But I still hadn't made my mind up. I couldn't speak. I sat there trying to make up my mind for so long, that he pulled his arm back and sat there sulking.

"Hey," I said to him. He didn't look at me. "Hey," I grabbed his arm, and he looked down to me. "Don't mind me. I'm just trying to decide what to do here. I mean...I like you, that's pretty obvious." I smiled, he didn't.

"But...?" He said, doubt filling every word.

"But...things are complicated. I can't really explain it to you. But I just...can't we be friends for now? I mean I just met you, and I don't want to rush things." His face lite up a little bit, and he smiled weakly to me.

"So, you know, in the future, there might be a chance...for us?" He looked down to his hands nervously. I got up on my knees, and took his face in both of my hands. I kissed his cheek.

"Maybe." I whispered. I fell back down on my butt. He smiled, and placed his arm back around me. "Hey, friends, remember?" As I said this, he smiled and pulled his arm back around. Embry ran up then, interrupting us.

"I hate to interrupt, but we better get going, Quil." He walked back over to Jacob, and they stared at me and Quil. I rolled my eyes, and got up from the bench. Quil did the same, and opened his arms for a hug. I placed myself inside them. It was weird how I only felt comfortable when Jared touched me.

"I'm glad you remembered the whole friends thing," I said, which made him laugh.

"Yeah. Bye, Kim." He walked back over to Jacob and Embry, who waved to me. Jacob blew me a kiss, and I laughed at him. Quil punched him, and Embry laughed. I started walking back to my car, which was a few blocks down at the diner. It was dark out now, so I guessed it was around eight. There were streetlights lining the streets, so I was safe.

When I got to my car, I looked through the diner's window and saw that the clock read 9:15. My mom was going to kill me. I drove home as fast as I could.

When I turned on my street, I saw that Jared's car was gone from Paul's house. I sighed, and slowed down a little bit. I saw my house at the end of the block, and saw John's car. I also saw Jared's. What was he doing there? I really didn't want to talk to him. At least my parents weren't home.

I parked my car, and turned off the engine. I took a deep breath, and opened my door. I shut it very quietly, hoping no one would hear me. Just my luck, they did. And A mad John came running out of the house, followed by a nervous Jared.

"Where were you?! I called your phone like fifty times!" John screamed at me.

"Sorry, it was off. Look, I'm fine. No damage." I lifted my arms and showed him that I was fine.

"But you could have been hurt!" John yelled back to me.

"John, calm down. I'm sorry, I forgot to turn my phone on. And I'm fine, really. Don't freak out." I walked over to him, and hugged him. He didn't hug me back at first, but after a minute, he did.

"I'm just relieved that you're O.K. Don't do that again, Kim." I laughed at him.

"You sound like mom, you know." He laughed along, and we fell silent. I had totally forgot Jared was here.

"Oh, right. I'll leave you two alone." He let me go, and walked away. I glared at him as he walked away, making him laugh.

"Kim..." Jared sounded sorry, I could tell he was. He stepped closer to me. I wasn't ready for this. I stepped backwards. I instantly regretted it. He looked hurt.

"What, Jared?" I tried to sound as hurt or mean as I possible could, and I saw that it worked.

"I wanted to apologize for everything." I was shocked. He did care? _No, he doesn't. _Right, I agreed with the voice.

"Now you're apologizing? And for what exactly?" He looked like he was thinking, so I looked away. A breeze came by, and I shivered. I wrapped my arms around myself, and he looked back to me.

"Are you cold?" He stepped closer to me again.

"No, I'm fine." I said as coldly as I could. "I'm still waiting for an answer."

"I'm sorry for...not telling you anything. I'm sorry for ditching you for Paul. You wouldn't understand, I had to do it."

"Try me, Jared. I'm pretty smart," He looked down to me, and then sighed. He rubbed his eyes, and I could see he was tired.

"I can't explain it to you, Kim," _Start asking your questions. _

"You can't, or you don't want to?" He opened his eyes, and they flashed to mine.

"Both," he said.

"What? You know that doesn't make sense," I stepped closer to him, and a small smile spread on his face.

"Kim, do you trust me?" He asked.

"I _did_, but I'm not so sure anymore," I said, not really positive of my words.

"I need to trust me, Kim. I need you to in order for me to tell you this," he said in the same way I had.

"Tell me what?" He was actually going to let me in on his secrets? I could hear my excitement in my voice. He laughed lightly at me.

"Well, do you trust me or not?" I wanted to because I wanted to know what's going on, but I didn't really believe him.

"I...uh...yeah, I do. I trust you," He smiled as I said this.

"Good. I'll tell you tomorrow then, when we hang out. You don't mind waiting, do you? I need to figure out how I'm going to tell you this," He had me wrapped around his finger now. I needed to know what he was talking about, now.

"I can wait," _No, you can't. _I smiled weakly to him. He wrapped his arms around me, and picked me up. I hugged him back. This is what it should feel like. I got butterflies from him hugging me, imagine what a kiss would be like. I giggled as he spun me around. He placed me down, and I saw a huge grin on his face.

"Sorry, I just got excited. I'll pick you up at noon tomorrow?" He asked, still smiling.

"Sounds great," I smiled up to him.

"Alright," He smiled, and his hand lifted up to my face. He brushed a piece of hair out of my face, and then placed his hand back on my cheek. It left my face, and I felt my heart drop. I was about to walk away, but then his lips brushed my cheek. I could feel it flame up as soon as they left. "Sweet dreams, Kim," he whispered in my ear before he let go and walked away. I watched him pull away, and then I ran inside. I opened the door, and John was sitting on the floor.

"Were you spying on me?" I was shocked that he would do that.

"Me? What? No!" He laughed as I jumped on him and slapped him. He carried me into the living room and threw me on the couch. He tickled me as I lay there. I couldn't stop laughing. He finally stopped tickling me, and sat down in the chair. I sat up, and fixed my hair.

"Hey, where are mom and dad?" I tried to grab the remote to turn on the TV, but John grabbed it first.

"Out with friends," he said.

"Oh, cool. Turn on the TV," I was getting annoyed that he hadn't turned it on.

"I want to talk to you first, Kim," Uh-oh. The infamous older brother talk.

"John..." I groaned as I sunk back into the couch.

"I just wanted to let you know something," He looked at me, and I nodded. "Well you know Jared was here earlier." I nodded again. "We talked. Don't worry, I didn't attack him or anything, but he did tell me a lot." He stopped talking.

"Told you a lot about what...?" I was really confused as to where he was going with this.

"Well, Kim...I think he...maybe he...I think he loves you, Kim," I couldn't breath. I couldn't move. I couldn't blink.

"What? Is this a joke? Because if it is, it's not funny," I was honestly convinced this was a joke.

"No, I'm not kidding," He sounded just as shocked as I was.

"I...don't know what to say," I got up from the couch and walked towards the steps. I went up to the top step, but stopped and turned back around to John. "Thanks for telling me, John. Goodnight," I stepped onto the floor and ran into my room. I shut the door behind me, and jumped on my bed.

What a day this has been. First, I totally surprise myself and actually stay mad at Jared when I'm with him. Then, I hung out with a bunch of really cool sophomores. And I kissed Quil.

I kissed Quil? Crap, I totally forgot about that. I think I only did it to see what it was like to be without Jared. And now I feel bad for leading the poor kid on. But I told him we were just friends, so hopefully he can take a hint.

And then Jared shows up at my house. That was the best part of my day. I finally got to be by him without being mad. I was at first, but he apologized and now he's actually going to explain everything to me. At least I hope he is. He said he was.

I need sleep. It's getting late, and I have to get up early tomorrow. Oh! I forgot I was going out with Jared! Crap, now I'm not going to be able to fall asleep. Well, I might as well try.

After about two hours of thinking, my heart finally calmed down and I fell asleep dreaming about tomorrow.

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what did you think ?! Tell me in a review!

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	11. Chapter 11

This is a little shorter, but it's still good. Read and review, I really do love and appreciate those who actually review.

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The one day I actually need her, she's not here. My parents stayed at my aunt's house last night, so I'm guessing they got drunk. It's eight o' clock, and I'm standing in my closet trying to find something to wear. If my mom was here, she would totally help me find an outfit for today, but since she's not, all I have is John, whose laying on my bed flipping through all of my magazines. And of course, like any big brother would, he rejects anything that shows the slightest amount of skin.

"This is useless. I've been in here for an hour already, and I can't find anything," I laid next to John on my bed.

"Kim, who cares what you wear?" He sat up and threw the magazines on the floor. He walked into my closet, and two minutes later walked out with a pair of dark skinny jeans and my favorite t-shirt. It said "Love Makes Peace" on it, and it was from my favorite store. "Just wear this, Jared won't care. Plus, it brings out your personality," he threw the outfit on my bed and walked over to the door. He stopped and turned back to me.

"Thanks, John," he nodded and walked out of my room, shutting the door behind him. I got dressed quickly, and walked out of my room. I ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. I plugged in my straightener and waited for it to heat up. After waiting for five minutes, I went through my already straight hair, you know, just to make sure it stayed. I looked in the mirror, and I looked kind of plain. So I grabbed my bangs and braided them, then pulled them out of my face. There, that's better.

Next, make-up. I was always terrible with doing make-up. But my mom has been teaching me while getting me ready in the morning. So I opened my make-up bag, and decided to start with a little foundation. After, I put on a small amount of eyeliner. I never really liked it, I thought it was for emo kids. But it makes my boring eyes pop a little, so why not? I put some mascara on quickly, and decided against eye shadow. Once I was pleased with myself, I shut the light off, and walked slowly downstairs.

I went through to the kitchen, and looked into the living room to see John sitting in front of the TV with a huge bowl of cereal. Cereal sounded pretty good right now. I walked over to the pantry, opened it, and saw two options. Peanut butter captain crunch, or frosted flakes. Hm...I'm going to have to go with frosted flakes today. I grabbed a bowl, poured cereal and milk into it, and walked into the living room. John looked up to me, chuckled, and continued watching TV. I tried to focus on it while I ate my cereal. John had some stupid cartoon on, so I didn't really pay attention to it. I just sat there thinking about how today was going to play out.

Once I finished, it was only ten. So I had two more hours with nothing to do. I could either do homework, or watch TV with John. I think I'm going to do homework...yeah, I'll do homework. I walked into the living room to see John laying on the couch, glued to the TV.

"Hey, John?" I asked. He didn't look up. "John?"

"Hm?" His eyes were still glued to the TV.

"I'm going upstairs to do homework," I already started walking towards the stairs.

"O.K., have fun," I ran up the stairs two at a time, and sprinted down the hall to my room. I slammed the door shut behind me, and walked over to my desk. I picked up my bag, placed it on the desk, and took out my math book. O.K., Kim, just focus. _Like you could do that. _I sighed at the voice, and tried to concentrate on my homework.

I finished my math, English, and history homework. By the time I finished, it was only eleven. Great. So, I decided to get ahead on Biology. I was half through a problem when the doorbell rang. Crap. I dropped my pencil, and ran to my door. I swung it open.

"John! Can you answer it?" I screamed down to no one, but then John came running out of the kitchen.

"Already got it!" He yelled back up to me and opened the door. I saw Jared standing there, but turned back and ran over to my closet. I grabbed the first pair of shoes I saw, which happened to be my favorite silver flats. I flicked the lights off, and ran into the bathroom. I checked my hair and make-up. Everything was good. I looked out the window, and saw some clouds, so I ran back to my room and grabbed a black jacket. I folded it over my arm, and took a deep breath. You can do this. _No, you can't. _Yes, I can. _O.K., we'll see whose right. _

I walked slowly out of my room, and took each step one at a time, going as slow as possible. Jared was standing by the door with his back faced towards me, with John facing him. John saw me walking down the stairs and smiled. This, of course, cause Jared to turn around. His face lite up as soon as he saw me. I smiled back down to him, and took the last step down. I walked up next to him. John looked back from me to Jared, then back to me again.

"O.K., go have fun," He pushed us out the door. I laughed at him, and walked slowly towards Jared's car. "Hey! Be home by ten please!" John yelled behind us, and I looked back and nodded to him. He turned around and walked inside. I was about to reach for my door handle, when Jared's arm shot in front of me and opened it for me.

"Thank you, Jared," I said as I stepped into the car and sat down. He stood there and watched me put my seatbelt on, still holding my door open.

"It's no problem, Kim. I actually like doing things for you," he winked to me and then shut the door. He walked in front of his car, and slid into his seat. He started the car, and pulled out of the driveway. He made his way down my street, and drove silently. I couldn't take it, I needed noise or else I would just sit here and stare at him.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, shifting in my seat.

"It's a surprise," He smiled as he looked cautiously down at me.

"Ugh, I hate surprises," I looked up to see his smile spread even wider. "What?"

"Nothing, you're cute when you complain," O.K., someone please kill me. I'd rather have that than let Jared see the shade of red I'm turning right now. He just called me cute. Is this real life?! I was to embarrassed to say anything, so I just looked out my window. I saw that we had made a stop, and we were by sand. The beach? "We're here," he said as he slid out of his seat, and ran to open my door. He was there before I could even reach for the handle.

"How do you do that?" I asked as I followed him down to the sand.

"Do what?" His hands were shaking. Again.

"Move so fast," His face turned serious. I regretted saying anything.

"I...I'll explain it later," he looked over to the ocean, and stopped walking. I followed his gaze, and saw a few people surfing. Like before, I needed someone to speak, and I could see that it would be me.

"I've always wanted to learn how to do that," Jared's eyes flashed to mine, and I thought he wasn't going to talk. It was one of those intense stares. The kind of stare that looked into my soul.

"Do what?" He repeated himself. I was doing a lot of speaking today.

"Surf. It just seems so cool. I don't know, I probably sound like a dork," I shrugged my shoulders.

"Kim, you're not a dork. I think it's cool that you want to learn. I could never do it though," he started walking again.

"Surf? Is it hard?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I'm not really sure. I have horrible balance issues, so I probably would be no good at it," I chuckled a little, and Jared looked at me.

"Sorry, I just pictured you falling off of the board," I blushed. I sounded like a freak. But he laughed a little too.

"Well, I'm glad you find entertainment from my embarrassment," he looked down to me still smiling. We had stopped walking again, and he stood there for a few more minutes staring into my soul. I looked back into his wide brown eyes, and when he blinked, his eyes opened again with love written all in them.

"So, are we just going to walk on the beach all day or what?" He sighed loudly, which made me laugh.

"No, it's just a little bit further down," he continued walking down along the shoreline. I didn't have anything else to say, so I didn't speak. And neither did he. I just looked ahead me as we walked on. After about five minutes of silent walking, I saw a blanket laid down and a small basket next to it. I looked up to Jared, who was looking down at me.

"Is that for us?" He nodded, and smiled. He didn't smile back. Something was wrong with him today. He seems to be holding back a lot. Maybe he'll explain it later, along with everything else.

I sat down on the blanket, and Jared grabbed the basket. He sat down next to me, then opened the basket. He took out a small plate wrapped in tin foil. He unwrapped it, and I saw that it was pepperoni pizza, my favorite.

"You remembered?" He handed the plate to me.

"Of course I did," he smiled to me. It wasn't right. It seemed forced. It was like he didn't want to be here with me. I looked away, and down to my plate. He reached in the basket for his own plate, unwrapped it, and scarfed down his own pizza.

The whole time we ate, it was quiet. No one spoke. I didn't because I was confused, worried, and scared. I wasn't really sure as to why Jared wasn't talking. It could have been because he was nervous, or scared. But I couldn't tell because he never looked over to me. He just sat there and stared at the ocean. I was getting anxious as he got up and took my garbage to the nearest garbage bin. He came back, stuck his hand out to me, and I took it. Like before, he let go. I was getting sick of all of this. He folded up the blanket, and shoved it into the basket.

"Ready to go?" He asked as he started walking. I hopped up, and followed him.

"Go where?" He let out a nervous laugh. I could tell he was nervous because his laugh was shaky.

"It's a surprise again," I sighed.

"Should I not ask anymore? Is it hopeless for me?" He let out a real laugh this time. The one that lite up his smile as he looked at me.

"Yeah, you shouldn't," he chuckled a little, but then went back into his serious mode again.

We walked back to his car, he opened my door for me again, and then went to his side. He drove away from the beach, but didn't say where we were going. It was silent. Usually when it was quiet, it was a comfortable silence. But today had been full of awkward silences, and we had only been together for an hour and a half.

We pulled into a parking lot for a small strip mall. I had no idea why we would possibly be here.

"I just need to run in and pick something up from someone. Wanna come in or wait here?" That made sense.

"Um...no, I can just wait here. It won't be long, will it?" He shook his head. "Oh, that's right. I forgot you had super speed," I laughed, but he didn't. He just nodded, and ran inside the convenience store. Two minutes later, he ran back out with a small brown bag. He opened the back door, and threw it inside. Then, he opened his door, and sat back down next me. He drove off again, and like before, said nothing. I was about to ask where we were going, but I knew he wouldn't answer.

Ten minutes, we pulled into an abounded parking lot. He stopped the car, but stayed in his seat. He didn't talk for about five minutes, and I was dying. I couldn't just sit here and wait for him to talk. But I also knew that whatever his secret was, it was hard for him to tell me. So I sat there, with my back up against the door and my legs folded in front of me, waiting for him to talk.

"Kim..." For he first time in an hour, he actually looked at me. But it was different, and it scared me. Not really scared me, more like made me nervous. He looked tired, and like he was thinking. He ran his hands through his hair, and broke his gaze from me. I kept rubbing his forehead, while I just sat there. _Do something, you idiot! _I reached out for his hands, and wrapped my hands in his. He glanced down to me, and our eyes locked.

"It's O.K., Jared. Don't be afraid to tell me," he didn't respond. He just nodded. I sighed, and let go of his hands. I sat back against the door, and crossed my arms in front of me.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Kim. I just...there's no easy way to tell you this," he looked out the window, then back at me.

"Take your time, Jared. I'll be here," he smiled weakly to me, and sighed again.

"Wanna go outside?" I nodded, and this time, I let myself out of the car. Something was definitely wrong. He waited for me meet him in front of the car, and when I did, we walked about five yards, and sat down facing each other on the grass. "I guess I'll just tell you, that's the best way to do it," I nodded in confidence. I had nerves rising up in me because he was actually going to tell me. But after ten minutes, he didn't say anything.

"Jared, just spit it out," I laughed slightly, but then fell silent again.

"O.K., ready?" He asked me.

"I am, Jared. Tell me," he shut his eyes really tight, and sucked in a deep breath.

"I'm...I...I'm a werewolf." Pain shot through my body.

"What?" I could hear the disbelief in my voice. Did he expect me to believe this?

"You know, like the old Quileute legends about our ancestors being decedents from wolves? They're all true," my head was buzzing. I couldn't believe this. It's not possible. Was this a joke?

Oh, that made sense. It's all a joke. That's why he was hanging out with Paul. They were pulling a huge prank on me to see if I would actually fall for this, for him. And I did. I'm such an idiot. I let the tears fall from my eyes and onto my cheeks as my world came crashing down around me. I clapped my hands as I stood up.

"Good job, I'm impressed. Where is he?" Jared stood up to, and took a step towards me. Naturally, I would have liked it, but I didn't. I hated it. I backed away from him.

"Where is who?" He looked hurt, but I didn't care. He was hurting me, so why would he care?

"Paul. This is obviously some stupid joke you're pulling on me. Now where is he so you can rub it in my face," He didn't answer. "It's so obvious, I don't know how I didn't see it before. You suddenly taking an interest in him was all because of me and this stupid prank. And then today you were all quiet because you were holding back your laughter." The tears were streaming down my face, and my make-up was probably running. And as if it wasn't bad enough, it started to rain.

"You think this is a joke? Kim, I wouldn't joke about this," He stepped forward again, and lifted my chin. I couldn't look at him, so I rolled my face out of his hand and looked down to the grass.

"It obviously is, Jared. You actually want me to believe this?" He nodded. "How can I? It's not possible, and it makes sense that you're joking,"

"Kim, I-"I can't take this. I cut him off.

"Jared, stop. Just leave it as it is, O.K.?" He didn't say anything again. "I better go, goodbye," I turned around and walked away from my one true love, my Jared.

As soon as I got out of his vision, I ran. I'm not sure how much I ran, but I couldn't stop. I just had to get away from him. I stopped to breathe, and saw a near by tree. I looked around and saw that there was nothing around me. I ran up to the tree, sat down, and cried.

I couldn't believe I was so stupid. John tried to tell me that it was wrong from the start, but I didn't listen. I played a role in one of the meanest, sickest jokes ever.

How can you do that to someone? Jared must really have no heart, not from what I can see. Well, technically, he does have a heart. But emotionally, he doesn't. The only heart he has is mine. I left it with him when I ran away from him.

I was just a love struck teenager and I didn't see what was right in front of my face. I mean, why would someone like Jared actually want to talk to me? Me, plain, boring, ugly Kim.

A gust of wind blew by, and I shivered. I got up, and started to walk home, wherever that may be. I didn't think the whole walk there, I couldn't. I just felt like my body was a shell, and I wasn't even in it. Like I was watching myself walk home from a distance. I was numb, and I couldn't hear or feel anything.

When I finally made it home, the sun was setting. John's car was the only one in the driveway, thank God. I opened the door as quietly as I could, but John was sitting in the kitchen and he had a full view of me.

"Kim! Why are you home so early?" He got up from the chair and started walking towards me, but I couldn't speak. I started walking up the stairs. But he grabbed my arm and spun me around on the top step. "Hey, are you O.K.?" I didn't look up to him, I just stared at the floor. "Kimmy, you're scaring me."

"I'm fine, I just want to go to bed," I was still looking at the floor, and John let go of my arm.

"Kim, it's only 7:30," he sounded very concerned, but right now, I didn't care.

"I know, I'm tired. Just don't bother me, O.K.?" He looked shocked, but nodded and walked slowly down the stairs still looking up to me as I walked to my room. I walked in my room, flicked on the light, and walked to my dresser. I grabbed some pajamas, and went to the bathroom.

I changed quickly, threw my hair up into a ponytail, and looked into the mirror. My make-up was surprisingly not down my face. But my face was red, probably from crying. I washed my face, and then walked back to my room. I slammed the door shut behind me, and walked over to my window. I was about to shut my blinds, when I saw the same brown bear. But it wasn't a bear.

Maybe Jared wasn't lying to me, maybe he is a werewolf.

No, it can't be possible. There's no way. I'm just an idiot. Tears over poured onto my face, and I let the blinds drop. I jumped onto my bed, and tucked myself under my blanket. Tears flowed down my face for hours, and I didn't fall asleep, I was too busy crying and thinking about how foolish I had been.

I decided to get out of bed early in morning.. I went to get some breakfast. I wrapped my blanket around my body, and walked out of my room like a mummy.

My mom was in the kitchen when I walked in, and I turned back around as soon as I saw her. But she saw me, and ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my body. I stood there awkwardly, waiting for her to be done. I saw a note on the counter, so I grabbed it while she was hugging me. It was from John. He said he was going to be out all day, and that he was sorry for whatever happened. Yeah, me too

"I missed you, Kimmy!" She walked back to the stove, and continued cooking whatever she was cooking. "Doesn't this smell delicious? It's a new recipe I got from your aunt," As she talked, I walked over to the pantry and grabbed a poptart. "Hey! Put that back! You're going to eat what I'm cooking," I walked past here, ignoring what she was saying.

"Just leave me alone for once," I walked out of the kitchen, and back up to my room. I finished the poptart, and laid back down in my bed. I was going to just stay like this all day. I didn't have anything else to do, so it didn't matter, right?

Somewhere along the day, I fell asleep again. I woke up to someone smacking a pillion in my face. I groaned as I rolled onto my stomach, and looked over to see Sarah sitting next to me, smiling.

"What do you want?" I pulled my blanket over my face, but she just yanked it back off of me. "O.K., O.K., I'm up!" I sat up in bed, and she laughed.

"Well, your mom called me. She told me it was pretty bad, and I can see that it is," she smiled a little bit. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but I guess I should, or else I'm afraid of what you'll do to me," she laughed again, but I didn't. "It's Jared. He just...he's been playing a joke on me this entire time, Sarah," my voice cracked, and she knew that I couldn't talk. She just pulled me into her lap, stroked my hair, and let me cry on her shoulder.

I guess I cried myself to sleep again, because when I woke up, Sarah wasn't there and it was dark outside. I sat up and stretched, and rolled out of bed.

I walked into the kitchen, and no one was there. They were probably all asleep, which makes it easier for me because I don't have to talk to them. I grabbed a water and an apple, and went back up to my room.

After I finished eating, I was still tired. So I laid in bed. Crap, I have school tomorrow. I was really dreading it, especially math class. I didn't know how I was going to face him. I guess I would figure out when I got there.

I rolled onto my stomach, and let myself think of anything but him. I eventually drifted to sleep counting sheep in my head. I got all the way up to two hundred.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry, again. I always take a while to update, so yeah. I don't own anything. Please review, it helps me write faster so you guys can enjoy it! I recommend you listen to Cry by Kelly Clarkson. It's such an awesome song. Enough said, enjoy!

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It's been a week. A whole week. And I haven't spoken to him at all. Actually, I haven't spoken to anyone but John, and that was just small talk about school. And yes, there was Sarah, who tried to talk to me about Jared, but I just ignored her. I refused to talk about him.

The thing is, I just told myself to get over him. I Knew it would take some time and a lot of effort, but I think I can do it. I just need to stop thinking about him, and hopefully I can forget about him. And it's been working a little. The first three days I still cried myself to sleep, but last night I didn't. So maybe this was a start.

But then again, I needed him like I needed oxygen in order to breathe. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday he wasn't in school. I thought I would die. That's probably the reason I cried myself to sleep those days.

"Kim?" Mrs. Martina asked, and I could feel everyone in the classroom turn towards me, well besides Jared. He was already staring at me before she said my name. I just tried to ignore him.

"Mrs. Martina?" I asked. I'll admit, over the past week I've become a little...mean. I just didn't care what anyone thought about me anymore, so why should I be nice when underneath I'm completely dying?

"Do you know the answer to number two?" I looked down to my worksheet, which I had done last night. But looked back to her, and shook my head. She sighed, and turned around. I looked down to my paper, and let out a deep breath. I rubbed my forehead, and sunk deeper into my seat. I felt him lean in closer to me, so I sat up straight again. I was about to raise my hand to go to the bathroom when the bell rang. I sat in my seat and waited for the rest of the aisle to get out before me. Everyone did except Jared, so I shrugged my shoulders and got up. I was about to walk out of the door, when a familiar warm hand tapped my shoulder. I already knew who it was, so I just turned around fast and looked up to see Jared.

"Kim," he said, sounded wounded.

"Jared," I nodded my head in his direction, and let the anger slip through my voice.

"This is getting ridiculous. It's been a whole week and we haven't talked about this at all. I'm getting worried about you," I rolled my eyes at him.

"You know what else is ridiculous? You. The joke is over, you don't need to talk to me anymore! And why do you care if I'm going crazy? You never did before. You never even noticed me before!" The tears rolled down my cheek, and I didn't care about the crowd surrounding us in the hallway.

"I know that, Kim. And I hate myself for not noticing you before. But now that I have, I can't just forget about you," He stepped closer, but I didn't back up like before. I've missed him to much to let my anger overcome me.

"Well, you can try Jared," I looked down to the floor, then into the hallway. It seemed like the entire school was watching us. They saw me look, but didn't move. Stupid, nosy teenagers.

"I can't, Kim. I did try, but I just can't be without you," his voice was full of regret and anger and sincerity. A tear rolled down my cheek, and his hand lifted my face up to meet his. He wiped away the tear, and in it's place, he left a trail of warmness on my skin. I opened my mouth to speak, but I was interrupted by Mrs. Martina.

"Alright, enough. Get to class, you now have one minute," She walked back into her classroom. When did she leave? I swallowed a lump in my throat, and walked past Jared as fast as I could.

I nearly ran to Biology, not looking back at all. As soon as I sat down, the bell rang. Thank God I didn't have to deal with a detention on top of everything that's going on. The teacher walked in and started going on about meiosis. This got tons of giggles from everyone around me, including Paul. This was his first day back. How lucky am I?

It was weird, while he was gone, he grew. Like, a lot. And his muscles were more defined. It was just like Jared had grew when he left. _Stop thinking about him. _I sighed, agreeing with the voice. I stole a quick glance over to Paul, and saw him glaring in my direction. My eyes popped out of their sockets, but I turned my head towards the front of the room to pretend I was paying attention.

The bell rang sometime later, and I rushed out of the classroom. I needed to see Sarah. But someone called my name. I tried to ignore whoever it was, but they just kept screaming my name.

"Kim!" I rolled my eyes, and turned around to see Paul running up to me. He looked very angry. I turned back around and started walking fast, but he ran up behind me and grabbed my arm. He pulled me through the crowd, still holding on my arm.

"Paul! Let go, you're hurting me!" I tried to release his death grip on my arm, but it was worthless. His newly defined muscles were working. He pulled me into an empty hallway and then finally dropped my arm. I looked down to see a bruise already forming.

"What the fu-" He cut me off before I could yell at him.

"Shut up, Kim,"If I wasn't so scared, I would have still yelled at him, but the way he said my name made me think he was going to kill me. "We need to talk," he said, looking around to see if anyone was near us. He's so typical, of course he didn't want to be seen around me.

"About what, exactly? Last time I checked, you were popular and I wasn't. Can't you just leave me alone?" My words were filled with desperation. I was hoping he would buy it, but he didn't.

"Nope, I can't," he smiled a little. I glared at him through my long eyelashes. He looked down and I could hear him swallow.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?" I smiled a little. I was having fun with this, he was getting really nervous. He looked down at his hands before he spoke.

"Jared." The smile faded from my face. Why couldn't they just stop this sick joke and move on? I was trying to move on, but I couldn't do that if they kept trying to talk to me.

"What...what about Jared?" A tear rolled down my face, but I wiped it away before Paul could look back to me.

"You have to believe him, Kim," He sounded desperate, which made me laugh. Like he actually cares about me.

"Oh, really?" He nodded. "You really have some nerve to talk to me, Paul," I pointed my finger right in his face. He began to shake a little. "You are such an asshole," His shaking was getting really violent. I thought he was about to slap me, but then someone called my name from somewhere close.

"Kim?" I saw Sarah walk around the corner, and she stopped when she saw who was standing in front of me. I dropped my hand from his face, and walked over to Sarah. She gave me a questioning look, but I just kept walking. Before we turned the corner I looked back, and saw Paul running out of the doors. He wasn't running though, it was like sprinting, but way faster than that. I just shrugged it off, and pushed the cafeteria doors open.

Since it was the second week, no one really stared at me anymore. They all found out that it was just boring Kim under all of the make-up and clothes, so no one even talked to me. So much for making friends.

Sarah and I sat down at our usual table, and she got up.

"Want to come and get lunch with me?" I shook my head, and she walked past me. I put my head in my arms, and looked out into the cafeteria. I saw the complete nerds, who were sitting there doing their homework. There was the jocks, where Jared used to sit. The table next to them was all of the cheerleaders and popular girls. I wonder what my life would be like if I sat there. I continued looking throughout the café, until I saw Quil.

He was sitting at his table, full of laughing friends, but he wasn't laughing. He was staring off into space, kind of like what I was doing. We were both depressed, I knew that. And we both didn't want to talk about it. No one really knew what happened to me, but I knew what happened to him. It was me.

I feel bad, I really do. But I just can't see myself with anyone else but Jared, and that's kind of impossible now. I felt bad for leading him on and then not talking to him. He did try talking to me this past week, but me being the heartbroken me, I didn't really respond. I haven't really answered anyone this week. My mom and John were getting worried about me, but my dad was never home so he didn't know anything was wrong.

As if he could hear my thoughts, Quil's head snapped up and he was looking straight at me. I smiled weakly at him, and he nodded. He was crushed. He looked like a mess, and like he hadn't gotten sleep in days. Join the club. He set his head on the table, and I knew I had to talk to him soon.

Before I knew what I was doing, I got up from my table and walked over to Quil's. When I got there, the whole table stopped talking and looked up to me. I let out a nervous laugh, and blushed a little.

"Quil?" His head slowly lifted from the table, and he looked up to me. "Can I talk to you? Privately?" Someone I didn't know let out a quiet groan, and Jacob hit the boy's head. The whole table began talking again as Quil got up and followed me. I walked, knowing he was still behind, out the doors and onto the outside patio. I walked a while, to get away from the students, and finally sat down at an empty table. Quil sat across from me.

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked and placed his hands on the table. I gulped, and he laughed. I looked around nervously, and saw Jacob and Embry standing inside, peaking through the window. They saw me, waved, and ran away. I laughed, but looked back to se Quil staring at me.

"I just...I want to tell you...I'm sorry," I sighed as I lifted the huge burden off of my chest.

"Sorry for what?" He had his eyebrows raised, trying to convince me that he didn't know. But I could tell he was trying to act like this, and he did actually know.

"You know what I'm apologizing for, Quil,"He nodded, but pulled his hands back onto his lap and stared down at them. "I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I lead you on, and then didn't talk to you again. And it's not you, really. You're such a great guy. That's why you deserve so much better than me," This time, I looked down at my hands.

"What do you mean?" I looked back up to him, and he actually was confused now.

"I'm not good enough for you. I have nothing to offer you. My heart is so worn out that I just can't do this, _us_, without it hurting," He was shaking his head now.

"You don't know that, Kim," He was still shaking his head.

"Yes, I do know it. Can't we just be friends?" He stopped shaking his head. "You hate me now, don't you?" He didn't say anything. "Crap, I totally just ruined our friendship," I slapped my head, which caused him to laugh.

"Kim, I don't hate you. I just wish you didn't think that you're not good enough for me," he placed his hands over mine as he spoke.

"Well, you can't change my mind about that. So, we're cool now?" He nodded. "Good, we should hang sometime soon then."

"Yeah, I'd like that," He got up from the table, and I did the same. We walked silently into the cafeteria. He walked me over to my table, where Sarah was sitting by herself, reading a book. I laughed at her, but looked up to Quil.

"I'll see you later," He winked, and I laughed. It just wasn't the same as Jared..._STOP! _

"Alright, I'll call you," he waved to Sarah, who shyly waved back, and walked over to his now silent table. I sat across from Sarah.

"What was that about?" She put her book down, and folded her hands on the table.

"You look like my mom," I laughed, but she raised one eyebrow. How does she do that?! "Right. It was nothing. I just needed to talk to him about last week," she nodded.

"Oh, I gotcha. So, what are you doing tonight?" I reached into my purse and grabbed an apple. I took a bite before answering her.

"I have nothing planned. But John said something about renting movies and just sitting at the house. Want to come?" She shook her head, but didn't answer because she had food in her mouth.

"I have to watch my brother," she rolled her eyes, and I did too.

"Do you ever not watch him?" We both laughed.

"I know, right? My parents are older than me and they have a better social life than me. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

"Yeah, I think so," I said, nodding my head. Then, the bell rang. I said goodbye to Sarah, and walked to my next class.

When I got there, there was a dozen roses sitting in my assigned seat. I stopped in the doorway, and everyone looked at me. I blushed a deep red, and walked to my desk. I picked up the flowers, looking for a tag with a note, but there was none. Just as I was about to place them down again, a white piece of paper fell out of the roses and onto the floor. I picked it up, and unfolded it.

_Kim,_

_I truly am sorry. Please forgive me._

That's all I get?! No name, or anything?! Who could possibly be sorry for me? I never talk to anyone but Sarah, and she wasn't mad at me for anything. I lightly dropped the flowers onto the floor, and took my seat.

The last bell rang at the end of the day, and all of the students quickly filed out of their classrooms. I, on the other hand, took my time. See, I didn't have my car today, don't ask me why. So I took the bus this morning. And since it was actually nice out today, I decided to walk home.

I walked down the hallway, flowers in hand, and the students that were remaining, stared at me as I made my way to my locker. I really wanted to know who they were from. Part of me thought they were from Jared, but they couldn't be.

I don't know why he finally decided to talk to me today. Sure, he was gone half of the week, but he still could have called me. Whatever, I'm getting over him. It'll take some time, but it'll happen eventually.

I turned the last corner, and as I walked I heard a loud bang from behind me. I looked back as I walked, and saw a young girl, probably freshman, rubbing her head. I laughed at her, but kept walking. I turned my head, only to hit it on the wall. I closed my eyes, rubbing my head, and heard the girl laughing. I opened my eyes and saw that I didn't hit a wall. I hit a body. I looked up to apologize to whoever it was, but when I looked up to the face, I saw that it was Jared.

"You should watch where you're going next time," he said with a small smirk on his face.

"Sorry," I pushed past his shoulder and walked over to my locker. I thought I heard him walk away, but when I shut my locker and turned around, he was still standing against the wall opposite from my locker. I jumped, and grabbed my heart. I could feel it beating rapidly underneath my hand. I wasn't sure if it was from being scared, or from me being with Jared.

"Kim, it's just me," I nodded shyly, and walked past him again and out the doors. I was walking home, well aware that Jared was still standing beside me, but I didn't say a word. I was afraid that if I did, I would just end up yelling.

"So, did you get my flowers?" My eyes popped out of their sockets. I knew they were from him, I mean, who else would they be from?

"They were from you?" He nodded. "Of course they were. So what are you sorry about?" I asked out of curiosity. But I knew what it was. The joke was still on.

"Everything. I'm sorry that you don't believe me. I'm sorry that I was such an idiot to not chase after you and show you. I'm sor-"I cut him off.

"Show me what?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Me. In wolf form," I'm so surprised that they were actually taking it this far.

"Oh, wolf form? Well, show me now then," He looked at me in disbelief.

"Seriously? You want to see?" He stopped walking.

"Yes, of course I want to see," He nodded, and slowly turned towards the woods. "Where are you going?" He stopped walking and turned around to face me.

"We have to go to the woods so no one else can see me," I nodded.

"So, is this whole thing a big secret then?" I asked, making sure I kept a distance from him.

"Yeah, it is," I let out a deep breath. "You O.K.?" He stopped walking and reached a hand out to me and placed it on my shoulder. I slid it off, and kept walking.

"I'm fine. So tell me more about being a werewolf," I knew they were going to get a kick out of this later, but I didn't care. I wanted to see if they thought this through.

"O.K., do you know Sam Uley?" I nodded. My mom had told me once about him. She said he was a nice kid until he turned to drugs and had this huge growth spurt and ditched all of his friends. "Well, he's my alpha. Whatever he says, I do. Literally. If he makes an order, it's impossible for me not to follow it," He's involved in this too? This is bigger than I thought...

"That kind of sucks," he chuckled a little.

"You know what's worse?" I truthfully didn't know, so I shook my head. "We can hear each other's thoughts when we phase. We can't keep any secrets," This thing is very well played out.

"Really? I think it sounds cool," he looked at me, and made a weird face. "O.K., maybe not that cool," He laughed, and finally stopped walking. He sat down on the grass, and I sat across from him. "What else is there?"

"Let's see...you know how I'm always so hot? Like temperature wise?" I was going to say another kind of hot, but O.K...I nodded. "Well that's why. I'm super strong, I can run really fast, all of my senses are sharper than a normal humans, like you. And I heal fast. Oh, and as long as I'm still phasing, I don't age,"

"You don't age? Like, at all?" He laughed.

"Nope," he said, popping the p.

"Woah, that's intense," I said. What else am I supposed to say? I don't honestly believe all of this. I mean sure, it is almost believable. But werewolves? There's no way. "So, who else is a...you know...werewolf?"

"Right now, it's just me, Sam, and Paul. But Sam knows that we'll have some new ones coming soon," he said. This was really well rehearsed. He actually sounded believable.

"How does Sam know when people will change?" I don't know why I'm asking so many questions. Really, it'll just be funnier for them to laugh at later on.

"He knows because it's in our genes. I guess we just have this mutated gene that makes us phase, and it passes on from generation to generation," Now that was a little ridiculous.

"So, that's the only reason why you're here? I mean, why you phase?" I heard a rustle in the tress behind me, but didn't look. It was probably just Paul, looking on, trying not to laugh.

"Well, not really. You see, we run perimeter around La Push. To protect the people,"He looked nervously down to his hands. Since I was so comfortable around him, I would have told him that it was O.K., but it's not. I just sat there.

"Oh, so you just like keep everything in line and keep the people safe from criminals?" He shook his head.

"No, we keep the people safe...from...from vampires," I let out a loud laugh. His head snapped up, and his eyes were glistening. He looked worried, maybe he was telling the truth. _Do you hear yourself?! _Yeah, I'm going crazy.

"Sorry," I let out, not willingly. But I couldn't take his staring, so I looked away from him, and into the trees.

"No, it's O.K. I shouldn't have told you this soon, I'm already pushing it," I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I obviously didn't believe this all, so I couldn't think of another lie. "Hey, wasn't I supposed to show you me in wolf form?" I looked up to see him smiling. I flashed him a forced smile, and nodded. "O.K., wait here," he ran off into the woods, and I heard a violent growl which made me jump. Two seconds later, a huge wolf came running out of the trees. I've seen it before...

It was the wolf that was outside my window before! I can't believe this! Here I am, sitting all by myself, about to get eaten alive by a huge wolf. I got up, and it stopped in front of me. It's head lifted up, and I looked into it's eyes.

It's Jared. It has to be. There's no way that it's _not_ him. It's Jared's eyes, and trust me, I would know. _Are you crazy? _Crazy, no. Shocked, yes. The wolf laid it's head at my feet, and let out a whine. I held my breath.

"Jared?" It's head snapped up, and I looked into it's eyes again. It shook it's head yes, and I let out my breath. With it came tears. They over poured onto my cheeks. How could I have been so stupid? I should have let him talk to me and explain everything. Jared whined again, and I looked at him. I smiled, and wiped the tears with my sweater. Jared let out what sounded like a laugh, and I smiled even wider. He licked my face, and I pushed his face away from mine.

"Gross! Jared, go change back!" He licked my face again, but ran off into the woods. One second later, human Jared was walking out of the trees pulling his shirt on. He walked over to me, and stopped about two meters away.

"So?" He asked. He rubbed his neck with his arm. I couldn't take this anymore, I needed to touch him. Without thinking, I ran over to him and threw my arms around his neck. I felt his arms wrap around my back, and I clung onto his shirt. I let the tears fall, and a minute later I was full out crying. He must have heard my sobs, because he let go of my back, and spun me around so that he could pick me up bridal style and sit down on the ground with me in his lap. I cried for about five minutes, still holding onto his neck.

"I'm so sorry, Jared," I managed to get out after I was finished crying.

"You don't need to be, Kim. It's a big thing to believe. I'm surprised you actually believe me," He brushed a random piece of hair out of my face as he spoke.

"I'm sorry. I should have talked to you. I feel terrible. Here I was this whole time, thinking that you were pulling a prank on me, when all along you were telling the truth," He shook his head.

"It's O.K., really. I don't know how I would have reacted to this. And about the whole joke thing...I don't know how you could ever think that I could hurt you. I would never do something like that to you," I could hear the truth behind his words as he spoke.

"I see that now," I smiled up to him. "Oh, crap. What time is it? I need to get home," he frowned, but let me go. I got up, and he did too. I started walking towards my house, and he followed me.

"Hey, do you think we could stop by my house before we go to yours?" I looked over to him, and saw him staring down at me. Why does he always do that?

"Who invited you to my house?" I asked, but he laughed. I joined him. "And yes, we can stop at your house," he nodded, and looked like he was thinking about something. And before I could ask, he yanked my arm and spun me onto his back. "What are you doing?!" I asked in between laughter.

"Giving you a piggyback ride, obviously," he laughed at me. I slapped my head, acting dumb.

"No duh. I'm perfectly capable of walking, you know," He laughed, but still held onto my legs as we walked down his street.

"I know, but I like carrying you," I wrapped my arms around his neck, and held on tight.

"Yeah, whatever wolf boy," He rolled his eyes, and set me down.

"Wait here, I'll be a second," He was about to walk away, but I stopped him.

"What? I don't get to meet your parents? You're about to come over and meet mine, and then you don't invite me inside?" He laughed, but kept walking. I followed him up the pathway, and looked up to his house. It was nice two story, with new tan siding and maroon shutters. The door color matched the shutters. He swung the door open, and let me in. I looked around, and heard some noise in the kitchen. It was pretty nice inside, it felt like a home. There were family pictures hung up on the walls and on every table. I walked over to a wall and looked at a picture. It was a little boy, being pushed on a swing by a young women. The boy was laughing, and he was really cute.

"Is this you?" I pointed to the picture as I looked up to him.

"Yupp," he pointed to the women pushing him. "And that's my mom," he smiled. "Speaking of which, come on," He nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen. I looked up to him with my eyebrows raised. My heart was beating super fast, and my hands were getting clammy. "Hey, she'll love you. Hell, she already does love you. I promise," I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. He grabbed my hand, and led me into the kitchen.

"Mom," she was cooking something that smelled delicious. But she was so into it that she didn't hear him. "Mom," he said a little louder. She jumped, but kept cooking.

"My goodness, Jared! You scared me! Where were you?" She turned around, and saw me. "Oh, hello there," she smiled. I couldn't help but smile back. She looked the same as she did in the picture I was looking at before.

"Mom, this is Kim," she looked up to Jared, and then back down to me.

"Oh, Kim! It's so good to meet you!" She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me. I heard Jared laugh. She let me go, and slapped Jared. "You know, I can never get him to stop talking about you," she smiled as she walked back over to her food. I smiled as I looked up to see Jared blushing.

"Mom!" He yelled out, and covered his face with his hands.

"What?! It's the truth! I'm just glad he finally found someone to put up with him. He's such a handful sometimes," she rolled her eyes, but laughed.

"Alright, I've had enough of this embarrassment. We're going up to my room for a minute, but then we're going to Kim's house," she looked hurt.

"Oh, stay here! Please? I'm cooking your favorite, and that way your father can finally meet Kim," Jared didn't say anything, so I just looked up to him, and he was looking at me with a questioning look.

"Oh, I...yeah, that sounds great. I just need to call my mom and tell her I'm staying for dinner," she smiled, but turned back to her dinner. Jared started walking up the stairs, so I followed. I was actually going in his room. This was like a dream come true. He walked down a long hall, and then opened the last door on the left. He let me, and I stopped to look around.

The walls were a nice, bright blue. He had a queen sized bed with a comforter that matched the color on the wall. I noticed old poster marks on the wall.

"What was here before?" I asked, tracing the lighter spots on his wall.

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"Oh, alright," I knew he was lying. I walked away from the wall and over to his dresser. The mirror above it was empty, but I saw some old picture laying on top of the dresser. I picked them up, and saw that they were of him and his old friends. It was sad that he couldn't talk to them anymore because he had to keep it a secret. Wait...If he had to keep it a secret from his friends, why did he tell me?

"Hey, Jared?" I set the pictures back down, and turned around to see him laying on his back on the bed. I went over and sat down next to him. I'm sitting on Jared's bed! _Snap out of it!_

"Yeah?" He rolled over onto his stomach and looked up to me.

"I'm just wondering..." He nodded. "You know how you said it was supposed to be a secret? You being a werewolf?" He nodded again, looking confused. "Well, then why did you tell me?" His face dropped. He looked really serious. "Sorry, forget I asked," I looked out the window.

"No, it's O.K., I just wasn't planning on telling you so soon. But there's one thing I left out about being a werewolf," he sat up on his bed. He opened his mouth to talk, but his door swung open.

"Jared. Dinner's ready, your dad is waiting downstairs," his mom said. She smiled to us before leaving the room. Jared got up, and I was about to follow him, but then I realized I still had to call my mom.

"I have to call my mom still," He stopped walking, but pointed to the phone on his night stand.

"I'll meet you downstairs," he said before leaving me alone in his room. I walked over to the phone, picked it up, and called my house. After ringing three times, John answered.

"Hello?" He sounded like he just woke up. I looked at Jared's alarm clock, and it read 6:43. How did it get so late?

"Mom wouldn't appreciate you answering the phone like that," I laughed, and I heard him sigh through the phone.

"Hi, Kim. What's up?"

"Nothing, is mom home?"

"Nope, I'm home alone. Why?" I laughed again.

"No reason. Could you just tell her I'm at a friends, and I'm staying here for dinner?" Please don't ask who, please don't ask who.

"Sure thing. Which friend?" Crap. Lie Kim, Lie!

"Jared," Why can't I ever lie?!

"Oh, cool," Well that was easy. "Wait, Jared?! Kim-" I cut him off.

"I have to go, I'll talk to you later!" I hung the phone up, and walked out of Jared's room. I walked down the stairs and into the dining room, and saw Jared, his mom, and someone I was guessing was his father whispering. Jared must have heard me coming, because he sat up straight and stopped talking.

"So, you must be Kim?" Asked his dad. I nodded. "Well, come sit down, have some dinner," He gestured towards the chair.

* * *

I rolled onto my stomach, and looked at my alarm clock. It was already eleven. Jared drove me home sometime around nine thirty. After dinner, we sat in the living room, looking at embarrassing pictures of Jared and playing games. It was awesome, I had so much fun.

But I still wanted to know what he was talking about in his room earlier, so we're hanging out tomorrow.

I really need to get some sleep. I've been trying for a while now, but I just keeping about Jared. My mind can't give him up. I'm so wrapped up in thoughts of him, I don't notice anything going on around me.

Like before, I had to get my mind off of him, so I laid on my back, and tried to concentrate on the pattern in my ceiling. I eventually fell asleep, and you guessed it, thinking about Jared.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry it took so long, but it's summer, so what do you expect? Enjoy, and review. I love you all, just wanted to let you know that. (Maybe not all of you, just those that actually review every chapter.)

* * *

_"Kim..." I opened my eyes and saw Jared walking towards me. I smiled up to him, but he didn't smile back. He was walking really slow, so I started to walk forward. "Kim. Stay," I stopped walking right away._

_"Jared, what-" He put a finger to his mouth to silence me. Something from under him pulled away and he fell flat on his face. I tried to run to him, but my feet were glued to the ground. I looked around frantically for help, and saw someone standing behind Jared. _

_"Kim!" Jared yelled. But I couldn't see him anymore. I was memorized by the red-eyed man walking over Jared's limb body. He continued walking towards me, and stopped a foot away._

_"Kim?" I nodded, becoming scared for my life now. He smiled at me, and reached for my arms with unhuman speed. _

_"What are you doing? Jared?" I looked behind the man standing in front of me, and saw Jared still laying on the floor, with tears streaming down his face._

_"I'm so sorry, Kim. I love you," I looked back into the man's blood red eyes, and he smiled deviously. He whipped my head to the side, and leaned his mouth closer to my neck. As he moved closer, I looked past his back to see Jared. I felt his teeth dig into my neck, and I screamed._

_"Kim!" Jared cried and reached his hand out, but it was useless._

"Kim! C'mon!" I felt a soft object wack my head repeatedly. And then it hit me again with a little bit more force. I rolled onto my back, and pulled the blanket over my head. Two seconds later, it was yanked off of my body. I slowly opened my eyes to see a very angry John standing over my bed with a pillow in his hand.

"Good morning," I sat up in my bed, stretching my arms up. Thank God it was all just a dream. Although the whole "I love you" part was kind of amazing.

"It is not a good morning. Do you know what time it is?" I shook my head, and looked at my alarm clock. 1:00. I looked back to John, and he was looking at me with the "I told you so" look. Jared was supposed to pick me up at 12:30.

"Is he here?" John nodded.

"He showed up exactly on time. I thought you were just getting ready still. But obviously you're not..." John chuckled as he threw the pillow back on my bed. I ran over to my dresser and grabbed the first thing I saw.

"Tell him I'll be down in five minutes," John walked out of my room, and I ran after him, into the bathroom. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and put my hair up in a messy bun on the top of my hair. I got dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. I put deodorant on, and looked at myself in the mirror. I rubbed my face to make it look like I wasn't just asleep. It worked a little. I shrugged. Oh well. I flicked the lights off and ran downstairs.

"Look who decided to join us!" My mom yelled from the kitchen. My eyes widened and I swallowed a lump in my throat. He's been sitting for a half and hour talking to my mom? Crap.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said, noticing Jared for the first time. His face lite up as he smiled up to me, and got up from his seat at the table.

"Ready to go?" I nodded, and looked to my mom and John. They were both smiling like idiots, staring at Jared and I. I let out a little laugh, and they both snapped out of it.

"Have fun! Jared, you should come over again soon, it was nice talking to you," Ew. My mother was officially the most embarrassing mom ever. I rolled my eyes as Jared opened the front door for me. He shut it, and let out a loud sigh. I laughed.

"Was it that bad?" I asked, hoping he would say no.

"No..." He looked over to his right, staring at the tree as we walked.

"You're a terrible liar. I'm sorry. I was sleeping. I was so into my dream I just couldn't wake up," He laughed a little.

"It wasn't **that **bad, she just...asks a lot of questions," He laughed nervously.

"I am so sorry. I told you she was annoying," We both laughed as he held the car door open for me. He shut it, and ran over to his side. He got in the car, and started it. We drove away, and I looked down at my feet. Shoot. I'm so stupid. I laughed a little, but then it turned into a huge cracking up fit. Jared stopped driving, and pulled over. I looked up at him in between my laughter, and saw him looking at me confused, but he had a small smile on his lips.

"Kim? Are you O.K.? What's wrong?" I couldn't speak, so I just lifted my bare feet up for him to see. He laughed, and soon enough he was joining me in hysteria. Five minutes later, I wiped the tears away and he started driving again.

"I guess I was still in dream land," I said, which cause him to chuckle again.

"What was this amazing dream about anyway? It obviously was good enough to make you crazy even after you were awake," I smiled.

"Nothing," I looked over to him to see him faking shock.

"You're not going to tell me?" He asked, using puppy dog eyes. Man, he's good. But I'm better.

"Not unless you tell me what was on your wall before," He nodded, and I laughed.

"Touche," He winked at me, and I laughed. We pulled over again, and he stopped the engine. I looked out my window to see sand. The beach, again.

"You like the beach, don't you?" He nodded, and I shook my head. I can't believe myself. I don't even think about what I'm going to say when I'm around him, it scares me. He opened my door for me, and held out his hand to help me down. I grabbed his hand, and he helped me step out of the car very gently. "Thank you. You are quite the gentleman,"

"Anything for my lady," He smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back. His lady? Was there someone else around here that was his lady, or was it me? He held onto my hand as we walked slowly down the beach. It felt so right. We walked silently for a while. I just stared into the ocean. I think he was staring at the ocean too, but he could have been staring at me. He lightly pulled my arm, and I looked back over to him. He was pulling me to a small log that was sitting on the sand. Before I could sit down, he pulled me onto his lap.

"What are you doing?" I looked up to his face, which was only inches away from mine.

"I like sitting as close as I can to you," I blushed. I looked down to my hands, as I played nervously with my fingers. This is all a dream, it has to be. "You look beautiful today. Well, you are always beautiful, but today...you just seem like yourself," This caused me to look up, and into his eyes. They were full of affection.

"Good joke," I said, laughing a little.

"Kim, I'm not kidding. Why would you think that?" He seemed very concurred.

"Because...no ones ever said that to me before. Well, except my mom, but she doesn't count. And plus, I don't have any make-up on, my hair is up, and I'm in sweats," He rolled his eyes.

"Kim, that's exactly why. You still manage to leave me breathless even with no make-up on, with your hair up, and in sweats. You're beautiful, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise," I couldn't breathe, so I just nodded. Jared chuckled, and kissed the top of my head. _Do something._ I know, I know. I leaned my head onto Jared's chest. He rested his chin on the top of my head. I inhaled, and I was surrounded by pure heaven. If I could just sit here in his lap and smell him all of my life, I would. And that sounds stupid, but he smells so good.

I don't know how long we sat there not talking. And it wasn't awkward at all. I loved just sitting in his lap, not caring at all about anything else but just us. Us, that sounds good. I felt him shift a little underneath me, and I looked up to see him smiling.

"I thought you were asleep," He lightly brushed my cheek, and I smiled.

"Nope. I think I don't need sleep for the next week," We both laughed. He stopped laughing, and I knew something was wrong.

"Kim?" Jared looked away from me.

"Jared?" I laughed nervously. "I thought we got over this. You already told me you were a werewolf, isn't that the worst that you could tell me?" I hoped he said yes.

"No," Of course, just my luck.

"Oh, O.K. Then just tell me. If it's that bad, it's better just to spit it out," He looked back over to me. I nodded in reassurance. I felt like his mom and he was a five-year-old on his first day at school.

"It's not that easy just to tell you this, Kim. I'm afraid of how you'll react," I swallowed. Can it possibly be that bad?

"Is it what we were talking about yesterday in your room?" He looked away, again.

"Yeah," Crap. That means it's about werewolves.

"O.K., well...tell me, Jared. I won't react badly," His eyes flashed to mine.

"You promise?" I rolled my eyes.

"I pinky promise," I held out my pinky, and he took it in his. He smiled as I laughed. He let go of my pinky, and I placed my hands in my lap. I have to prepare myself for the worst. I promised I wouldn't react badly, so I have to be ready for anything.

"Alright. One of the perks that comes with being a werewolf is this thing called imprinting," I raised my eyebrows. More supernatural crap? "Let me explain," I nodded. "O.K., imprinting is...finding your soulmate. After you phase for the first time, there's always a chance you can imprint on someone. It's very rare though, so it doesn't happen often," He paused.

"Soulmates? That's kind of deep," He laughed, and nodded.

"Yeah, it is. You feel this pull towards the person you imprint on, and you will never be the same. You want to protect her, hold her, kiss her, whatever it is you have to do to keep her safe. It hurts to be away from her, and when she hurts, you feel it too," I'm confused. Why was he stringing me along like he liked me if he was going to imprint on someone else in the future?

"Did you imprint on someone?" I looked up to see Jared smiling.

"Yes," I looked away. I stared down at the sand in front of me. I kicked it in between my feet and toes. Of course he imprinted on someone else. Why would we ever be soulmates?

"Who?" I heard him laugh, and I looked over to see him smiling. It was a brilliant smile that spread across his whole face. It made the butterflies in my stomach flutter. I would have to get over those if I was ever going to let Jared go.

"You, Kim. I imprinted on you," My eyes widened. He chuckled again, and placed a cheek on my face.

"Can you repeat that?" He smiled again. Why was he so happy?

"I imprinted on you, Kimberly Connweller," My name rolled off his tongue, and I almost smiled, but I couldn't.

"Can you just give me a second to let this sit in?" He nodded, and I got up from his lap. I walked down the sand, and into the water. I got knee high, and then I continued walking down towards the car.

Jared imprinted on me? Kim Connweller, the boring, quiet, shy girl who has been in love with him for years. I couldn't make myself believe this. There's no way he could possibly be my soulmate.

Do soulmates even exist? I never really believed in them before. Well, I did for a while, when I thought that one day Jared would just realize I was alive and fall in love with me. But that was two years ago, and I had given up on that theory. But it actually came true.

Maybe this whole thing was true. He was gone for two weeks, for what I'm assuming was the first time he phased, and then came back, looked at me, and talked to me for the first time in years. That does fit his description. He saw me for the first time, and it was love at first sight.

Wait...that can't be right. He said there was a pull between us that draws him to me...I knew it. I knew he could never actually love me. If not before, not now either because it's all fake. He's forced to love me. If he even does love me, I doubt it. He probably has just been hanging out with me and acknowledging me because it hurts him not to be with me. But he probably hasn't even thought about my feelings because he doesn't care about me at all.

I looked behind me, to see Jared still sitting on the log with his head in his hands. I could run now without him noticing, and everything would go back to normal. I just have to be quiet, or else he'll here me running. I looked in front of me, and saw no one. I can do this, I can totally do this. I just have to run super fast. I looked back one more time, and he looked the same as before. I let out a deep breath, and started to run.

I got out off of the sand, and onto the road. I was actually going to make it home without him noticing. Or maybe he did notice but didn't care enough to come after me. I started to cry as I ran, and my breathing picked up. But I didn't stop running, I had to make it home first. I continued to run/cry until I made it to my street.

I was five houses away when I felt him grab me from behind. I kicked my legs, and tried to pray his arms off of me, but he was too strong. I fell limb underneath his arms, and cried. He turned me around, and wrapped his arms around me. I tried to push away off of his chest and I kept hitting it, but he refused to let me go. After a while of struggling, I just gave up and let myself cry on his chest. He stroked my hair and whispered in my ear as I cried.

"Kim, it's O.K., I'm here. I'll always be here," I shook my head, and for the first time, looked up into his eyes. He was hurt, and it made me mad because I was the one that caused it. But he didn't care about me, so why should I care about him?

"No you won't, you're just saying that because of stupid imprinting," His arms dropped from my back, and I stepped back.

"That's what this is about?" I nodded, and wrapped my arms around myself. It started drizzling, and I looked up at the sky. I let out a sob, and looked back down to Jared. He was in so much pain. "Kim..."

"Don't start, I don't want to hear it. And I know you don't want to be here anyway, so you can just leave," I looked down to my bare feet. It was just a couple of hours ago when I didn't know about this and everything was perfect between us.

"Why do you always get these crazy ideas in your head? You over think things, Kim," I shook my head.

"You said it yourself, Jared," I looked back up to him, and now he was confused. "'You feel this pull towards the person you imprint on,'" I said, using my hands to make air quotes. I sniffed my nose, and used the end of my shirt to wipe the tears away. "You don't honestly want to be here, it's just the imprinting working its magic," He started shaking, and I knew that couldn't be good. I stepped back again.

"That is NOT how it works, Kim. I'm sorry if you got that impression, but that's all wrong. Imprinting is...just telling you that you're meant to be together, all of the feelings come after you get to know each other, like any normal relationship."

"Yeah, and you needed to imprint on me because you would have never noticed me otherwise," He rolled his eyes at me.

"No, I would have. Eventually," I laughed. _This is so ridiculous, just tell him you love him and live your life together. _I can't just do that. It wouldn't work.

"You would have never noticed me, Jared, and you know that," I paused, but he didn't protest. "I'm quiet and shy, and you're popular and you have friends, we're not meant to be, Jared."

"_Had_, I had friends. I can't be with them anymore because of what I am, of what I've become. But I can be with you. You're the only one I want to be with, Kim. And that's not imprinting, so don't think that. This is how I feel about you, it's not some mythical thing pulling us together. It was at first, I'll admit it. But after the first time we went to the beach I knew it was something so much deeper than imprinting. You amaze me with every little thing you do. When you smile, all I can do is smile back. You're laugh is the best sound I've heard in my entire life. When I see you happy, it brightens up my day. When I see you sad, all I want to do is hold you and tell you that it'll be alright. I'm sounding really cheesy right now, but I don't care. And do you want to know why?" A small smile spread on his face. Did I want to know? Yes, I did. And after that speech, I felt like an idiot for running away.

What do I do? Listen to my head, which keeps telling to stay away from him, he's trouble. He'll only cause me heartache. Or do I listen to my heart? Which skips a beat every time I see him, and makes me do all of these crazy things in front of him. _Head, listen to your head, Kim! _I looked up to Jared, and saw him raise his eyebrows. I need to decide. I don't want to get hurt, but...I think it hurts more when I'm not with him.

"Why?" I asked, and the rain turned from light to pouring down on my face. He smiled, and stepped closer to me. He wrapped his arms around my body, and I threw my arms around his neck.

"Because I love you," My heart had stopped beating completely. A hand left my back, and reached down to my face. He cupped my cheek, and looked down at me in amazement. He leaned closer to me.

"Good, because I love you too," We both smiled before he leaned in closer and brushed his lips against mine. At first, he kissed me lightly, but I needed more. I pulled him closer into me, and he smiled against my lips. I jumped up, and wrapped my legs around his waist so that we were on the same level.

I always thought the whole fireworks thing was some stupid myth that a naive teenage girl made up, but it isn't. It doesn't really feel like fireworks though, more like my whole world has stopped and nothing else matters. In this moment, it's just the two of us. I don't care if anyone's watching. All I care about right now is Jared.

Just as I was about to pass out from not breathing, Jared pulled away. I didn't want him to stop, but I knew if he didn't, I could die. He leaned his forehead onto mine, and we stood there like this for a while. I opened my eyes for the first time, and saw that his were still closed, but he was smiling like an idiot. His chest was rising up and down just like mine. I laughed. I'm glad I can make him just as breathless as me.

His eyes flashed open, and there were full of the most affection possible. I smiled, and he did too.

"You're amazing," I blushed. "And I love when you do that, you look so cute." This caused me to turn even darker, which made him laugh. He kissed my forehead for a long time, and set me down to my feet. I looked at him, then down to myself. It was still pouring rain. That's weird, I didn't even notice it was still raining.

"We look terrible," I chuckled, and Jared looked down at himself.

"Yeah, we do. Well, I do. I don't know about you, you look sexy when your all wet," I slapped his shoulder, and he laughed.

"Hey! We just started going out, none of that language!" I laughed, but he didn't. He froze. What did I say? Oh, I said we were going out, crap! "I...sorry. I didn't mean to...I-" He put a finger over my mouth.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just shocked that you actually want to go out with me," His face fell into seriousness.

"Oh, yeah. I always tell people I love them, kiss them, and then never go out with them. What kind of girl do you think I am?" He laughed. Thank God.

"So, you will go out with me then?" I smiled.

"Of course I will," He winked, and I laughed.

"Well, I better go home," He looked hurt. I felt it too now. I didn't want to be anywhere without him, but I had to. He nodded, and took my hand in his. He walked me to my house, and stopped at the door.

"This is where I leave," I nodded, and laughed. I reached for the door, but he grabbed my arm. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Inside...?" Well, that wasn't supposed to be a question.

"Without kissing your boyfriend? Tsk, tsk," I smiled as I walked back over to him and waited for him to kiss me. I stood on top of the small step we had, and he stood on the ground. He was still about a foot taller than me. But he didn't lean in and kiss me. I looked up to see him waiting for me to kiss him. Oh, I could totally win this game.

After two minutes, we were still going strong. I could see him slowly caving. I smiled, and then he leaned down to kiss me. It was a lot shorter than the first kiss, but it was just as intense. He pulled away smiling, me doing just the same. I walked back over to the door.

"Hey, Kim?" I looked back at Jared. "Do you want to come to dinner tonight? To meet Sam?" Sam, the alpha Sam? Not really.

"Yeah, sure," He smiled, and walked away. I pulled the door open, and drained my clothes out. I left a huge puddle, but I didn't care. I walked into the living room, and saw my mom and dad sitting on two separate couches.

"Oh, there you are Kimmy," My mom got up from the couch and ran over to hug me. She saw that I was wet, and stopped right away.

"What's up, mom?" She looked back to dad, and then to me again.

"I need a favor," I nodded. "Can you talk to John? He locked himself in the bathroom and he won't open the door."

"Uh, yeah. Let me change really quick." She nodded, and went to sit next to dad.

I ran upstairs, and changed into another pair of sweats and a shirt. I brushed my hair, and threw it up in a ponytail again. I walked slowly to the bathroom, and knocked on the door. No one answered. I knocked again.

"John? It's me, it's Kim," I knocked again, and heard some noise from inside. I put my hand up to knock again, but the door opened. John looked horrible. I could tell that he'd been crying, his face was puffy and red. His eyes were bloodshot, and stuff was running down his nose. "John, what-" He cut me off by running into me and hugging me. I wrapped my arms around him, still not knowing what was wrong. I rubbed his back as he cried into my shoulder.

"She's gone. She's gone, Kim," He lifted his face to look up to me.

"Who? Whose gone John?" He leaned into my shoulder again, and mumbled something. "I can't hear you John."

"Chloe," Chloe? Whose...oh. Oh no. He said he loved Chloe. I couldn't imagine losing someone you love. "She was in a car accident, she died right away," A tear rolled down my cheek. I know John will never be the same. He loved her so much, he told me. If I ever lost Jared I would die. I sat down on the bathroom floor, and held the crying John in my arms, letting him ruin my favorite shirt.


	14. Chapter 14

O.K., this is shorter than others, but I had writers block so, sorry.

But has everyone seen the clips from new moon! AWESOME! And I was in the theater with my sister and we saw the preview, and i squealed like a little girl. Pretty embarrassing, but i don't care, I'm super excited!!!

Well, read and review. A little cliff hanger, but that means you have to wait for the next chapter!

P.S.- I have next chapter ready, so review and I'll post is asap !

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We sat on the bathroom floor in the exact same position for I don't even know how many hours. I finally got John to calm his crying down to a minimum so I could drag him into his room. I left him there, hugging a pillow, while I went downstairs to make him something to eat. As soon as I reached the last step, my mom sprung from the couch, attacking me with questions.

"What's wrong with him? Is he O.K.? Is my Johnny alright?" I closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead, and sighed. I opened and looked at my mom for the first time today. I could tell she had been crying, her make-up was running down her face. Although I didn't know why she was crying because she didn't know what was wrong with John.

"Where's dad?" I asked, and she pointed to the living room. I pushed past her, and made my way into the living room to tell both of my parents the news. I heard my mom following behind me, and then I saw her almost run past me to sit next to my dad. I didn't speak, I didn't know what to say.

"So? What happened?" My dad asked. He was in sweats and a shirt, just like me. I think this is the first time I've ever seen him not dressed up.

"Did he ever tell you about Chloe?" My dad looked at my mom, who looked at him. Both of their faces said 'No idea'. "Alright. She was his girlfriend at college. I guess he didn't want to tell you guys about her, but he told me. They've been going out for about a year, and he loved her," my mom interrupted me.

"Wait, why wouldn't he tell us?" I opened my mouth to speak, but my dad cut me off.

"Honey, just wait," I smirked, took the words right out of my mouth.

"Well...this morning she was in a car accident, and...she died. That's why he locked himself in the bathroom and cried," I looked to my mom, to see her crying. Now she actually had the right to cry. She got up from the couch and started to walk towards the stairs. I grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Kim, let me go," I shook my head at her.

"Mom, don't. He doesn't want to talk to anyone. I just came down for some food for him," She looked hurt, but she walked back over to the couch and sat down next to my dad. With that, I walked into the kitchen.

I opened the refrigerator, and pulled out all of the ingredients for John's favorite food, ravioli. I put a pot on the stove, and sat down at the kitchen table as I waited for it to boil. I glanced to the clock, which read 7:45. Wow, I've been upstairs for a long time.

I sighed as I got back up to put the noodles in the hot water. I stood with my hand on my hip, stirring them, when the doorbell rang. I just let it go, hopefully my mom or dad would answer it. A couple of minutes passed and I didn't hear it ring again, so I stood there, hand on hip, stirring the ravioli.

Then, a pair of warm hands wrapped around my waist, making me jump. I spun around, ready to hit whoever it was with the spoon, but then saw that it was Jared. What was he doing her-...Crap. I was supposed to go to dinner with him. I'm sure panic was written all over my face, because I looked apologetically at Jared, and he raised his eyebrows.

"What's wrong Kim?" It took me a while to register, but I finally snapped back.

"Oh, sorry," I smiled lightly. "Nothing, everything's fine," He smiled back to me, but then looked down to see the food I was cooking on the stove.

"I thought you were coming to Sam's?" He looked a little disappointed. O.K., scratch that. He looked very disappointed.

"I was, but I can't. I'm sorry, but something came up," He looked hurt, but nodded his head.

"Well, can I stay here then? If that something that came up doesn't mind?" He looked hopeful, and I was about to tell him to leave, but I got interrupted.

"I don't mind," I looked at the doorway to see John standing there.

"John, what are you doing-"Jared cut me off by going over to John and sticking his hand out.

"Hi, I'm Jared. Kim's boyfriend," He smiled to John, who accepted his handshake, while looking at me with wide-eyes.

"Jared, I don't-" I got cut off again.

"Kim, stop. I don't mind if he stays for dinner. I need the most people here I can get. I don't want to be alone anymore," He smiled, but it was forced. He's one of those people who either smile really wide, or fake a smile. And that was his fake smile.

"John, why are you down here?" Jared chuckled at that, and I glared at him. The small smile that was on his face instantly faded away.

"Kim, I'm not crazy, I can come out of my own room if I want," All I could do was nod, and he smiled a little, this time a real one. "Plus, dinner smelled delicious, I wanted to come try it out," he said, rubbing his hands together as he walked over to me. I stuck out a fork with a piece of ravioli on it, and he shoved it in his mouth. He closed his eyes, and smiled. "Man, you really know how to cheer me up," He opened his eyes again, and I smiled.

"John! Can you come here?" I heard my mom scream from the living room. John groaned, but walked into the living room. I turned to Jared, who had his hands up.

"I'm sorry, for whatever I did. I didn't-" I put a finger on his lip, and I felt his lips spread into a smile.

"Stop talking, John is the reason I was going to cancel on dinner. This dinner was supposed to be for him, but now I have you, which really means like feeding fifty," Jared smiled even more as I whispered to him, and took my hands in his.

"Well, why is this dinner for John? Why is he so special?" He whispered back, still smiling like an idiot.

"His girlfriend died today," I said, looking down to the floor.

"Oh," Jared let go of my hands, and I looked up to him. I could feel the tears streaming down my face, and he reached out to wipe them away. After he did, he help my cheek with his hands. "Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you, Jared," He looked confused, and I let out a little laugh. This made his face brighten up.

"Then why were you crying?" And just as fast as it came, the brightness faded.

"I...I just can't imagine losing you like that," I chocked out. And then I felt his arms wrapping around my waist. Naturally, I put my arms around his neck. He pulled away, and looked my in the eyes. His were full of every emotion a girl could ever ask for. Love, lust, admiration, love.

"You won't ever lose me, Kim. I promise. I'm going to be there for you forever, whether you," he said while tapping my nose with his finger, "like it or not." I smiled, and leaned up to kiss him. Just as our lips were about to touch, someone cleared their throat in the distance, and I looked to my right to see John.

"I thought I might warn you two that mom and dad are coming in here in about three," I pushed at Jared's chest, but he wouldn't move. "Two," I looked up to see Jared laughing at me, but then letting go of my hips. "One," John said, and I heard mom talking as she walked into the kitchen. She was on her phone, and she walked past us and outside onto the deck. My dad followed her in the kitchen, but stopped as he approached John.

"You must be Jared?" My dad asked as he stuck his hand out to Jared. I gulped, and John laughed as he sat down at the table. I can't watch this, I can't watch this. I turned on my heel, and walked over to the cabinet to get out plates.

"Yes, sir," I heard Jared say as I reached on the top shelf to grab five plates.

"Oh, call me Bob. Come on, sit down and we can talk," I opened a drawer and grabbed silverware. I shut my eyes, and took in a deep breath. I opened them, and looked down to what I was wearing. I was still in sweats and a t-shirt. Gross, this is definitely not the appropriate outfit t be in when my parents meet my boyfriend. Boyfriend...I smiled as I thought it. I walked over to the table, plates and silverware in hand, as I looked at my dad talking to Jared.

"You a fan of baseball?" My dad asked, and Jared nodded. I walked around them to place the plates on the table. They got into a long, deep conversation about what team they thought was the best, so I walked over to check on dinner. As I was about to start pouring ravioli onto everyone's plate, my mom walked in from outside and sat down in her normal seat.

"I'm sorry about that, what did I miss?" I rolled my eyes as I sat down next to John, across from Jared. I smiled across the table to him, and he smiled back before turning to my dad to continues talking about baseball. I looked over at John, who wasn't eating anything. He was just sitting there playing with his food. He looked depressed. I reached my arm out, and rubbed his back. His head shot up, and he smiled weakly to me. I smiled back, and took my arm back to start eating.

We were all having a conversation. My mom, dad, Jared, and I were all talking about school, but John was still not touching his food. I frowned as I stopped contributing into the conversation and looked at John. Then all of a sudden, a small smile spread on his face. Weird...I shrugged and took another bite of food.

"So, Kim. Tell us how Jared asked you out," I choked on the food in my mouth. Let me tell you, it is not fun to choke. I grabbed my water, and chugged the whole glass. My eyes were watering from coughing, and I wiped them on my shirt. I looked back up, to see everyone staring at me, especially Jared. He looked concerned, stupid imprinting.

"Kim? Would you care to explain?" My mom asked, sounding a little more excited than mad.

"I...well...he...eh?" John chuckled, and I kicked him under the table.

"Ow! That hurt!" He yelled as he reached down and held onto his leg.

"John." My dad said, making John roll his eyes, and then all the attention was passed back onto me. I couldn't speak. What do you tell your parents when your boyfriend is sitting right across the table from you? I don't know, that's for sure. My mom raised her eyebrows impatiently, and my dad coughed.

"Well...-"Jared cut me off.

"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Connweller. I should have asked you two first before I asked Kim, but I couldn't wait. It was the perfect moment, for the perfect girl," He said, looking at me and smiling. I smiled back, but then heard John making fake gaging sounds. I kicked his leg again, making him scream even louder than before.

"Ow! Dad!" He yelled across the table.

"John, calm down," He said, shrugging it off. I stuck my tongue out at John, cauing him to do the same.

"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is...can I have permission to date your daughter? I promise I won't hurt her in anyway, I would never hurt Kim, she means to much to me," I smiled, as he looked from my mom to dad. My mom nodded to my dad. Yes, one bullet dodged, one more to go. My dad glanced from Jared to me. I looked down to my almost empty plate.

"Alright, you may date our daughter. You seem like a nice kid, just treat her right, or else I'll hurt you," My dad said with a chuckle, but I knew he was being serious.

"Well, Kim do want to help me clean up the dishes? The boys can go watch a game or something," My mom got up from her seat and I followed, grabbing all of the plates. Jared followed my dad into the living room.

I placed the plates in the sink, and waited as my mom washed them so I could dry them. After the second plate of washing in silence, my mom spoke.

"Alright Kim, I can't take it! Why haven't you told me about this?!" My mom nearly screamed at me.

"Mom, it just happened today, I was planning on telling you guys once I got home, but then the thing with John happened," I looked in the living room just to make sure that they couldn't hear us, but only saw Jared and my dad sitting there.

"Oh, alright. Well I just wanted to say-," she cut herself off. She started crying. Crying, really? Is it that hard to believe that I have a boyfriend? "I'm sorry, I didn't think I would cry," She let out a little laugh as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "O.K., I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you, I really am. I love you. It's about time right?" I nodded, laughing, as I pulled her into a hug.

"O.K., enough of the lovey dovey stuff, we need to finish these dishes," she nodded, and turned back to the sink.

After we finished washing the dishes and putting them away, we went into the living room, and I sat down next to Jared. I wrapped his arm lightly around my shoulder. We both knew that it would be so much better if we were closer, but he didn't pull me into his lap because my parents were here. I focused on the T.V., trying to pay attention to anything but Jared, because I now if I did, I would regret doing something in front of my parents.

Turns out, my dad had on some lame sports game, so I ended up falling asleep on Jared's lap. Very inappropriate with my parents there, ut what can I say? I was asleep, so it's not my fault that I ended up there.

I woke up to someone gently rubbing circles on my back. I smiled, and rolled onto my back. Lips pressed against my head, and I smiled. I stretched my arms, and opened my eyes to see a smiling Jared. I sat up, but instantly regretted it. When you get up really fast, do you ever get a headache? Well I did, so I leaned my head against his chest, and he kissed the top of my hair. I pulled away, and looked around the living room. It was empty.

"They left a couple of hours ago. I told them I'd put you to bed, but you looked too peaceful to move," He said, stroking my cheek with his fingertips.

"Ah, I see. Well, what would have happened if I never woke up?" He smiled slightly before letting out a laugh.

"Well, then I would have used my inhuman speed and darted out of the house, leaving you here, all alone," I stuck my tongue out at him, but leaned in again on his chest. I could have fallen asleep again, listening to the sound of his uneven heartbeat slowly fade back to normal. But his smell around me was too intoxicating, I couldn't fall asleep, so I just laid there, breathing in pure Jared. A couple of minutes later, Jared interrupted my thoughts of him.

"Kim?" I placed my small hand on his chest, and traced random designs on it. I drew a star, a circle, a square, and some other stuff. Then I pretended to be a little man and walked my fingers all across his chest. Finally, I drew a heart and placed my hand flat where I had drew the heart, and pushed off against his chest to sit up.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I better go to bed now," He laughed, but got up from the couch when I did. I walked him to the door, and opened it for him. He stopped walking as soon as he got outside, and looked down at me with desire in his eyes. So I leaned up, and kissed him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and threw myself into the kiss. Electric sparks flew all around my body, and I smiled against his lips as I pulled away.

"Now get out of my house," I smiled, but he didn't move.

"But I love you," He said making the cutest puppy dog face I have ever seen.

"And I love you too, but a girl needs her beauty rest."

"You don't, you're beautiful no matter what,"I rolled my eyes, blushing more than I would like to. But he kissed my forehead, and turned around to get into his car. I shut the front door quietly, and ran up the stairs two at a time. I shut my door behind me, and jumped on my bed.

I can't believe my life right now. First of all, I think I'm going crazy because I actually believed the dumb fool who told me he was a werewolf. You know, at first, I though I was psychotic. But now that I think about it, I trust Jared more than anyone else in my life. And if he says he's a werewolf, then he's a werewolf.

The thing I can't wrap my finger around is the whole imprinting thing. Part of me still wants to react like the first time I heard about it. It wants to run away and never speak to Jared again, because he's only been forced to be with me. But the other part of me wants to curl up next to him and be with him forever. I like the sound of that, together forever.

And now that I'm involved in all of this supernatural crap, I would die if I ever lost Jared. I know he's careful in everything he does, but I don't know what I would do if he didn't come back home to me.

Which reminds me, John. Oh god, it was heartbreaking watching him sit there at dinner, pretending to be strong. But I know him better than anyone else, and I knew he was just faking it. I don't know why he was even downstairs because if it was me, I would lock myself in my room all night and cry. But he just had to be a guy and fake being strong. I just hope he can get over Chloe and let her go.

I tucked myself under my blanket, and snuggled with it. It made me warm, but not nearly as close as I get when Jared holds me. I wish he was here, but since he's not, the only thing I can do is think about him and what I would be doing if he was here. I fell asleep, thinking I was laying on his chest, like downstairs.

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I woke up to the sunshine streaming into my room. I sat up in my bed, and practically dragged myself down the stairs. I almost fell about twenty times, but once I made it down to the floor, I dragged my feet across the floor and into the kitchen. I saw a note from my mom on the counter that said her and my dad were going shopping and to check on John when I woke up. So I grabbed a banana from the bowl on the counter, and started walking up the stairs slowly.

I heard music coming from John's room, and noticed it was some stupid screamo band. I smiled as I reached his door, and tried to open the door. But it was locked. I pounded on the door, but he didn't answer.

"Come on, John! Not again! I was thinking we could do something today, like outside of the house," I rested my head against the door, and knocked a couple of more times. Then something popped in my head.

I ran down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I whipped open every drawer until I found the small key I was looking for. I ran up the stairs, key in one hand, banana in the other. I reached his door, and laughed as I stuck the keys in the hole.

"Alright, I'm coming in, you leave me no choice," I swung the door open, and froze. The banana fell from my hand, and I screamed on the top of my lungs as I sunk down onto the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

Alright, so I'm not going to lie. I cried writing this chapter. :/ But it had to be done, so sorry.

Review please! I love the encouragement from you guys!

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Fall is my favorite season. It matches my mood perfectly, for some reason that I don't know. It just seems so gloomy. The dead leaves fall off the trees, with no where else to go but down. They spread across the cold ground, waiting for someone to come pick them up, but no one takes the time to do so. So they lay on the ground, waiting.

"Kim, we're here," The car came to a stop as I heard my aunt Lily open her car door. I looked out the window to see a small church. There's a line of people dressed in black going into the building. I lean my head against the window. I don't want to go in there. _You have to, Kim. He would have wanted you to._ Stupid voice, you're always right.

I opened the door, and stepped out of the car, looking down at my converse. I smiled on the inside, but I just didn't have the energy to actually smile. I looked up to see everyone waiting outside looking at me. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and started walking up the stairs.

I walked down the small aisle looking at the backs of all the heads sitting in the pews. I didn't really recognize many of them. Once I got towards the front, I did notice Jared's. I looked the other way so that he wouldn't see me. I didn't want him to see me like this. I practically ran past him and up to the front row where my parents were sitting. I sat next to my dad, who instantly wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

A couple of minutes later, someone dressed in a long robe came out and stood at the podium in the front of the church.

"Thank you all for coming out today," How could he be so nice to everyone when something so horrible was going on in my life? I ignored the man standing in front of me, and tried not to think about what had happened, but it was something I simply could not ignore.

_"Alright, I'm coming in, you leave me no choice," I swung the door open, and froze. The banana fell from my hand, and I screamed on the top of my lungs as I sunk down onto the floor. _

_I placed my head in my hands, screaming and crying, not knowing what else to do. I looked up in between my sobs to see that John's usually empty desk actually had a paper on it. I got up from the floor and ran over to his desk and picked up the folded piece of paper. On it was engraved '**To: The Family**' as if he used all of his strength to simply write three words. I slowly unfolded it and began reading._

_**Dear Mom, Dad, and Kim,**_

_**By now if you're reading this, I'll be gone. I'm sorry for having to do this, but it is what makes everyone happy. Mom, I know you love because I'm your son, but be strong for me. I love you too, I know you can move on. Dad, what can I say? You've been the best dad a boy can ask for. You helped me through all of my tough times, but this one was too much for anyone to handle. I love you.**_

_**And Kim. **_

_I stopped reading. I can't take this. I can't read this. I glanced over to John, who was laying across his bed, with a pile of empty prescription bottles spread across his body. I walked over to his bed, and sat down next to him._

_**And Kim. For the longest time you were the only person in my life I could completely trust. You're my baby sis, of course we always had a special bond. Be happy, don't grieve over me. Everything will turn out fine in the end, I promise. Have a wonderful life with Jared, he really does love you. And so do I. I love you so so SO much, Kim. But this is all for the best, trust me. Well, I better get this over with. I'll see you all later. -John.**_

_I clasped my hand over my mouth as I cried. I dropped the letter on the bed, and rested my head in my hands. I cried until mom and dad came in, thinking John and I were just hanging out in his room. Little did they know that they would walk in and everything in their lives would change._

I opened my eyes, and looked ahead of me. I saw the priest still talking, but I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. He was making violent hand movements as he talked, which made me even more upset. What was he doing, trying to convince everyone that John was a happy guy? Well he obviously wasn't if he killed himself. And it's all my fault.

If I could have just been up two hours earlier, he would still be alive and I wouldn't be in this awful church, with all of these people staring sympathetically at me. My thoughts got interrupted by my dad patting my shoulder. I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"You want to go say a few words about John?" No, but I nodded anyway. I sucked in a deep breath, and got up from the bench. I dragged my feet up to the podium, and stood there looking out at all of the people.

All of my aunts and uncles were here. My grandparents were here, which was a rarity in itself. All of his high school and college friends were here. Almost everyone was crying, but there were a few unfamiliar faces that looked like they didn't want to be here. Someone cleared their throat from the huge mob of people, probably aunt Lily.

"Sorry. I was just...wow, there's a lot of people here," this caused a few people to chuckle. Out of all of them, I noticed Jared's laugh. I searched through everyone until I finally saw him. As soon as our eyes met, the small smirk faded from his face. I knew him seeing me like this was a bad idea. I was so broken, he didn't need to see me so vulnerable. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I turned my eyes away from his.

"Um. I don't really have anything planned to say. I didn't even know I was coming up to speak until now, so sorry. But, I guess I can start by saying that John was the best..." I let out a loud sob. I wiped the tears, but every time I did, new ones just fell from my eyes, so I decided to give up. I looked up to see everyone crying now. "He was the best big brother anyone could ever ask for. He was always there to beat up the kids that picked on me, and comfort me when I needed him." I looked down at my hands, and fiddled them for a while.

"I remember this one time, in second grade, when Bob, a boy from a grade higher than me, pushed my lunch off the table, making me starve for the rest of the day. And when I got home and told John, he went to school the next day and gave Bob a black eye," Some people laughed, but all of my close family started crying even harder.

"But anyway, John was the only person that could cheer me up when I was down, or make me laugh when I was mad or sad. And now that he's gone, I don't know what I'll do.

"He was the most caring, kind-hearted person I've ever met. Everyone that met him liked him right away, he was just one of those people that couldn't be mean. He always had a spare joke in him to crack if anyone needed it, and there were always funny, never the lame ones that don't make you laugh.

"I'm not going to say I loved him. Because I still do love him, with all of my heart. He was my brother, and I will never ever forget about him. I'll love him forever." I looked up to see people trying to hold back their sobs, people wiping their eyes with tissues, and the assholes that still weren't showing any emotion. The tears continued to pour out of my eyes, and I couldn't stand in front of these people any longer.

"Excuse me," I didn't even bother saying it into the microphone, I just ran down the aisle. I pushed the large doors open, and let the sobs rip through my chest as I sat down on the steps. I heard the door open behind me, but I didn't look up. And then, two warm arms were picking me up and placing me in their lap. I leaned into Jared's shoulder and cried. I was past the point of caring if he saw me like this. He brushed the hair out of my face as I cried.

Minutes later, the doors opened, and the crowd began to file out of the church. I got up from Jared's lap, and walked over to my mom. Then, John's closest guy's, including my dad, walked slowly out of the church carrying John's casket. I leaned into my mom's side as they placed him in the car and shut the door. She rubbed my back, pretending to be strong, but I could feel her chest rise and fall every so often.

I went to the cemetery in my aunt's car again. My mom and dad didn't want me to be in the car with them as they discussed all of the arrangement costs and what not. Lily didn't say anything as we drove, she just kept rubbing my back and brushing my hair. Usually I would protest against all of the sympathy for me, but right now, I needed it.

We pulled up behind my parents car on the cemetery road. I saw all of the guys from before walking over to the hearse to get John's casket and carry it onto his spot in the grass. I got out of the car, and walked with my mom to sit down at the only three chairs that were there. One for me, one for my mom, and one for my dad. Everyone else stood around us as I watched the priest from the church walk up to our group and start talking again. I blocked him out again, just staring at my feet playing with a small patch of grass.

My mom handed me a flower and pointed towards the line that was forming to drop flowers on the casket. I was the last one in line, followed by my parents. My mom grabbed my arm as we waited for the person in front of me to say goodbye to John. Everyone was either leaving, or staying to watch us say goodbye, which was pretty sick. I walked next to the hole in the ground, and looked down at the lowered casket that had flowers spread across it. I knelt down on the ground, and threw my rose on top of all the others.

"Goodbye, John. I love you so so SO much," I cried as I got up and watched my mom and dad cry as they laid their flowers out. Then they stood up and walked over to me, wrapping their arms around me. I looked around to see my aunts and uncles the only ones standing there. And Jared. He was staring at me with hurt written all over his face. It was probably painful for him to watch me go through this, unable to do anything. I looked down from his gaze and at the casket being lowered into the ground. I heard the people around me crying, but my eyes were dried up. It wasn't possible for me to cry anymore than I already had.

After it was lowered, they kicked us out so they could put the dirt back on top of it. Apparently they had a crazy person that tried to go back and open the coffin once they started throwing the dirt back in, so they don't allow us to stay. So, my mother being my mother, she offered our house to have people come back and stay for dinner. I guess some things never change.

My dad swung the front door open for the line of my family that were waiting to go inside. I waited behind all of the people, looking through the crowd for Jared. But I didn't see him. I sighed, and started walking into the house. Which I didn't like to do anymore. I hate this house. Every time I step inside, I just flash back to the day I found John. So I promised myself that when I'm old enough, I'm getting the hell out of this house. I looked behind my shoulder one more time for Jared, but was disappointed. I snapped my head back in front of me, to see Jared standing in the doorway.

"Looking for me?" I jumped, but nodded. I didn't want to speak right now, and I think he understood that. He wrapped his arms around my waist, but I didn't do anything. I just let my arms go limb on his chest as he kissed my hair and whispered in my ear. "It's alright, I'm here. Everything's going to be fine," I pushed off of his chest and looked into his eyes.

"Everything's going to be alright? How could things possibly be fine after this!? It's all my fault, I should have been up earlier to be-" He cut me off.

"You think this is your fault?' Jared asked with raised eyebrows.

"It is my fault. And don't try to tell me otherwise, Jared." I prayed his arms from around my waist and walked into the house. I went into the dining room where everyone was sitting, and sat down next to my uncle Robert. There was an empty seat next to me, and two seconds later, Jared was sitting down in it, piling his plate with food. I, on the other hand, took one scoop of mashed potatoes and one piece of chicken.

I swirled my fork in my potatoes, not touching anything. I heard the buzzing laughter and conversation around me, but I didn't add to anything. I couldn't. I didn't want to. So, I sat there, just staring at my plate while everyone else talked.

"Kim, you have to eat something," Jared whispered in my ear. I shook my head, and looked the other way so that he couldn't talk to me anymore. He put a hand on my knee, but that only made me whip my legs to the opposite side of the chair. I heard him sigh before returning to the conversation about football with my uncles.

After everyone was done eating, they all went into the living room to continue the conversations from dinner. I walked into the kitchen and cleared my full plate in the garbage, threw it in the sink, and went to the living room. Jared was sitting on the couch with an empty seat next to him, but I sat on the floor on the opposite side of the room. He looked at me with apologetic eyes, but I looked away. I went on to thinking while everyone talked.

I don't know why, but ever since John died, I've been ignoring Jared at all costs. I think one of the reasons why John did it was because he was jealous of what Jared and I have. Not really jealous, but just...longing for something like us. And I knew he had that with Chloe, but since she died, he didn't have it anymore.

So knowing John did it because of Jared and I, I've started to ignore Jared. Every time I'm with him, I'll just be reminded that we cause John to kill himself. And I don't want that huge guilt on my shoulder, trust me. But it's there, and there is no possible way I can get rid of it now.

"Kim? Are you paying attention to us?" My grandma asked from across the room.

"Uh, yeah." I nodded my head, looking to see everyone staring at me.

"Well then, get over here and give me a hug before I leave," She said with a smile. Yes, finally they're all leaving. I got up, and made my way around to say goodbye to everyone. I ended up next to Jared, who tried to wrap his arm around my waist. I saw this from the corner of my eye, and turned my head to glare at him. His arm shot back next to his side.

Everyone left, and my dad sat down in his chair, staring blankly at the T.V. Jared insisted on helping my mother and I with the dishes, but she refused to let him do that. So he sat on the couch watching the T.V. like my dad as my mom and I washed the dishes in the kitchen. She didn't speak the whole time, I guess we are both alike in that department.

Once we finished, it was getting late, so my parents went up to their room. I sat down on the farthest end of the couch, Jared all the way to my right. I stared at the black T.V., hoping that he wouldn't speak.

"Kim, it's not your fault." Of course he had to go and ruin it.

"It is, Jared. If I had been up an hour or two earlier I could have saved him," I looked down at my sock covered feet.

"Yeah, and then he would have waited until he was alone again to do it," He sounded cold and harsh.

"Don't say that," I spit out. I hoped it sounded hurtful, it was supposed to.

"Kim. Look at me," I felt the middle of the couch sink as he moved closer to me. I crossed my arms across my chest, but didn't look over to Jared. He lifted my chin, but I refused to meet his gaze. "Kim...C'mon." I looked sheepishly up to see him looking at me intensively.

"What?" I snapped, and I don't know why.

"This isn't your fault at all. There's no possible way you could have stopped Chloe from dying. And that's why he did it, isn't it?" I didn't answer. He was right, but I didn't want to admit it. "Isn't it, Kim?" I nodded. But cocked my head to the side, and then shook my head. I whipped my head from his hand, and stood up from the couch.

"No, it is my fault. It's _our_ fault. He saw how happy we were together, and that pushed him over the edge. If you didn't come here, then he would have eventually gotten over her," I was nearly screaming, and I probably woke my parents up, but I didn't care. Jared stood up from the couch, looking angry.

"It's my fault now? Kim, I know you're depressed because your brother killed himself, but you can't go blaming everyone else when it wasn't anyone's fault, and that includes you." He pointed his finger at me, but I rolled my eyes.

"Don't you see? I've been ignoring you the past couple of days because I feel like...when I'm with you John hates me," He rolled his eyes now, sighing as he did so.

"Johns dead, Kim! Come back down to reality!" I felt like I took a blow to the heart. Why was he being so mean to me? I thought he loved me. He recognized the hurt in my eyes, and stepped closer to me, but I put my hands up and stepped backwards.

"Get out. Now," I pointed to the door, but he only stepped closer to me. "Jared, now." He blinked slowly as if he didn't understand, but finally he nodded and brushed past my shoulder and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him. I sat back down on the couch, staring ahead at nothing, thinking about the previous conversation.

He was completely right. I was being ridiculous. John was dead, and I was acting like he wasn't. And I realized now that it wasn't my fault at all. He was right, I couldn't bring Chloe back, as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't do that. And so what if Jared and I were happy? John was not the jealous type. I knew was truly happy for me. So how did I get that stupid idea in my head? God, I'm such an idiot.

I wish I wasn't such a melodramatic drama queen. John had called me that once. I smiled. I actually smiled thinking about my dead brother. I guess if he wasn't happy here, it's better that he's happy with Chloe. I love him, so all I really want is for him to be happy. And just like he said, this is all for the best. He definitely knew that I would figure this out. I looked up at the ceiling, imaging I was looking up at John. I smiled, and blew him a kiss.

I got up from the couch, and walked up the stairs. I went straight to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, and threw my hair up in a messy bun on the top of my head. I turned the light off, and tip-toed to my room. I shut the door quietly behind me before I flicked the lights on. I sat down on the edge of my bed, taking off my socks. I got up and walked over to my dresser to get pajamas. I unzipped my dress, and as I slid it off, I heard a loud bang from outside my window. I saw a figure standing there, so I threw my shirt on and ran over to my window. The person was standing with there back turned to me, so I tapped lightly on it. They turned around slowly, and I saw Jared standing there. I slid the window open, and stepped back as he climbed from my balcony into my room.

"Sorry about that. You were getting undressed, so I turned around and hit my head on the roof," He rubbed his head as he spoke, smiling slightly. I nodded, looking down at the floor. He didn't speak, and neither did I. So I decided to be the first one to talk.

"I-" We both started talking at the same time. I laughed, and his face lite up.

"You first," He said, still beaming.

"No, you." I teased back.

"O.K., well when I was driving home, I was still fuming 'cause I was mad at you. But then I got halfway there, and I finally thought about what I said. I'm sorry, Kim. You know I love you, with everything that I am. I don't know what came over me, I just was letting anger out on you from the past days." I nodded again, unsure of what to say.

"It's O.K., really. I was actually hoping to talk to you. Because I thought about our conversation too. And _I'm_ sorry for being such an idiot. You were totally right. I was acting like John was still alive, which he's not. And I'm sorry for blaming it on you. I know John wasn't jealous of us, I was just making up excuses. And he's happy now, so I am too," I smiled at that last bit.

"So I'm forgiven?" He asked, stepping closer to me.

"As long as I am?" I closed the gap between by wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I was never really mad at you, I could never be mad at you." I smiled as he pulled me closer by clinging onto my waist. I was only inches from his face, and he leaned in to kiss me, but I didn't kiss him. I leaned my head back, and his eyes shot open, glaring holes in my eyes.

"Sorry, I just..." I let out a light laugh. Jared looked at me longingly. "I love you, Jared. No matter if I tell you otherwise, you know I love you, right?" He smiled brilliantly at me, so that all I could so was smile back.

"Really? I just thought you kissed people, told them you loved them, and never spoke to them again?" I smiled as I tugged on his hair to pull him closer to me. Then our lips met, and it was magic. Even if I was in the worst mood because of John, kissing Jared would always cheer me up. It's like he's taken John's place as the person to cheer me up. That made me a little sad, but then Jared's hand cupped my cheek, and pushed me back lightly.

"I could just lock myself in my room and do that for the rest of my life," Jared swooned, bending his knees and closing his eyes. I laughed because he looked like such a fool, but at the same time he was adorable.

"Please Kim, don't tempt me," He laughed along with me, and pulled me back into another kiss. It was the longest kiss we've ever had, and it was marvelous. He pulled away, as always, and picked my up bridal style and placed me on my bed. He tucked me in under my blankets, and sat down next to me.

"Kim, I've been thinking. You never did come to Sam's to meet the pack," He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, and stroked my cheek. I closed my eyes, and leaned closer into his hand. "Kim?"

"Hm?" I heard him laugh, and I opened my eyes.

"What do you say? About Sam's?" I closed my eyes again. I really do want to meet all of Jared's friends. Well, really only Sam. But I'm nervous that they won't like me. "He already loves you," O.K., never mind then.

"Can it wait just a little bit longer? I don't really want to meet anyone right now," I looked down at the blanket, and felt Jared kiss my forehead.

"Of course it can wait. Whenever you're ready is fine," He got up to leave, but I grabbed his hand. He looked back at me with raised eyebrows.

"Aren't you staying?" He looked like he was thinking it over, and then looked back down to me with lustful eyes.

"You're going back to school tomorrow. Plus, I don't think you're parents would like that," he continued to walk away.

"Wait." He turned on his heel, and folded his arms across his chest. "I'll set my alarm early so you can go home and get ready for school. And my parents couldn't care less about me right now," He rolled his eyes, and was about to protest, but I cut him off. "Please? It'll help me sleep," I put on my best puppy dog face, and I guess it worked because he unfolded his arms and stepped closer to me.

"You're cheating. I can't resist that face." I laughed, and pulled down the comforter. I padded the spot next to me as I looked back up to him. "Fine, but if you get in trouble it's not my fault," He slid into my bed. I laid on my side, and he tucked his arm around my waist. I instantly warmed up, but I snuggled even closer into his chest.

"See, this is so much better than sleeping alone," I smiled as he kissed up and down my arm.

"You're right, it is." I turned over so that I was face to face with Jared. I leaned in and kissed him. He pulled me so that I was on top of him. What seemed like minutes later, he mumbled against my lips. "Kim, stop." He gently pushed me off of his chest. I slammed onto my back next to him.

"Why did you stop?" I asked, peeking at him from the corner of my eyes. He was smiling and I don't know why.

"That wasn't why I'm here. I'm here to help you sleep, and that...was not sleeping. Trust me, as much as I didn't want to stop, we have school tomorrow. We'll save that for another day." He winked at me in the dark. I laughed, and scooted closer to him. I rested my head on his chest. My eyes fluttered closed as he rubbed small circles in my back.

"I love you, Jared." I mumbled under my breath. It probably sounded like I was drunk. And Jared found it amusing because my head lifted when his chest rose with laughter.

"I love you too, Kim," I fell asleep seconds after he said. Completely content with life, as sick as that may sound.


	16. Chapter 17

Sooooo, this didn't take as long as i thought it would. But i had a free day so i just sat down and wrote this. So excuse me if it's sort of a filler chapter, but again, it had to be done.

As always, read and review!

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Days turned into months, and it was finally winter. Things are finally getting back to normal. Well, for me at least. Jared, on the other hand, had been going through some pretty hectic times. Five new members had joined the pack. Embry, Jacob, Quil, Seth, and Leah. And on top of that, some crazy blood-thirsty vampire was storming through Forks looking for ways to get Bella Swan. I started tapping my pencil even harder on my desk just thinking about her.

It's not like I hate her, I've actually never met Bella. But she doesn't know everything that she causes in La Push. First, she wraps Jake around her little, fragile finger and then breaks his heart when her vampire boyfriend comes back. Why would you even be with a vampire in the first place? Anyway, secondly, she brings all of this vampire crap into my world when it is definitely the last thing I need right now. I already have five projects, three tests, and an essay to write this weekend, and now I have to worry about Jared.

Because tomorrow is _the_ day, as in the big fight. Jared and all of the werewolves are going to some open field in Forks to fight off the army of newborn vampires. I have to go to Emily's house for however long this thing will take because Jared doesn't want me alone. Which doesn't make sense because my parent's will be home all weekend. But they don't care what I do, they're too busy fighting these days. So when I asked if I could sleep over at Emily's for the weekend my mom just nodded and went on to yelling at my dad.

The bell rang, and everyone got up from their desks, but I just sat there, waiting for them all to file out of the classroom. You see, next period was lunch, which means I would see Jared, which would somehow lead to me either crying or getting mad at myself or Jared. I sighed as I got up from my seat, and slowly started walking towards the cafeteria.

I pushed through the large doors, and looked across the room to see Jared, Quil, Jake, Embry, and Paul sitting around a small table. And every single one of them was doing homework. I laughed to myself as I walked up and sat next to Jared, who wrapped his arm around me without looking up from his paper. No one looked up, but instead they managed to stuff their faces with one hand while writing with the other. I coughed lightly, but got no response. I coughed louder, which made Quil jump. Everyone else looked up, laughing, and put down their pencils.

"Sorry, Kim. We're just trying to finish all of our homework before tomorrow," He frowned as he said this. We didn't really like to talk about it. The first time he brought it up I flipped and dumped him. Of course this only lasted for an hour, but he still gets nervous everytime he says something about it.

"It's alright, I understand," I smiled weakly, and he seemed to buy it because he nodded and started his math homework.

This is how the whole period went, we all just sat there doing homework like a bunch of nerds. I finished all of my normal homework, but now all I have to do his all of my projects. No one really spoke. Everyone had been like this the whole week, either too nervous or excited to talk. I looked up at the clock, and saw that we had only two minutes left.

"Hey, hate to break this up, but the period's almost over," I stood up from the table. I started walking to the door, where all of the students stand and wait for the bell to ring like horses in a cage about to race each other. I felt Jared's warm presence next to me, but he didn't say anything. The bell rang, and I started walking out of the door. Jared pulled on my arm, and turned me around. I didn't look up, I just crossed my arms across my chest.

"Kim, come on," He laughed as if this was a joke, but I could hear the nerves in his voice. He didn't want to leave me, but he just won't admit it. He wrapped his arms around me, but I didn't hug him back. He rubbed my back, and I felt him inhale deeply. He pulled away slightly, but he didn't drop his arms. Instead, he kissed my cheek, then my forehead for about a minute. Tears started rolling down my face as he whispered in my ear.

"I have to leave now, Kim. Sam wants to meet one more time before tomorrow," He pulled away and looked down at me. He wiped the tears from my face and looked at me. He kissed my forehead again, and turned to walk away. He walked out the school's front doors, and I just stood there like an idiot. I pulled myself together, and ran outside after him.

"Jared! Wait!" He turned around in a flash, and looked more worried than I had ever seen him. I ran up to him and jumped up to give him a hug. He held on to me tightly as I clung onto his shirt. I let go, and he set me down on my feet again.

"Kim-" He said shyly, as if he was saying goodbye, but I couldn't do it yet.

"Can you come over tonight?" He thought about it, but nodded. His face grew a little lighter as he said yes. "Good, I'll leave my window open." And with that he was gone. Just like that, in the blink of an eye. I heard the bell ring, but I still stood there looking out into the trees. A few minutes later, I decided to go back into the school and finish up the school day.

I tapped my foot on the floor as my teacher went on and on about something that I wasn't paying any attention too. I was too preoccupied thinking about Jared. I glanced to the clock, which read 3:29. One more minute. Why couldn't I just live in this moment and never have to go on in life? I don't want to live out the next few days, they are going to be hell. I'm not going to be able to concentrate on anything. The bell rang, and I shot up from my desk. I ran out of the classroom, and upstairs to my locker. Normally, Jared would be there smiling at me as I came walking up to him. He wasn't there, and I knew he wouldn't be there. But I was still disappointed to see no one there. I shoved all of my books into my bag quickly, and sprinted outside to my car.

When I got home, I sat down at the kitchen table and worked on my essay. I sat there for a few hours, just typing away on my laptop. With that out of my way, I shut my laptop and looked at the clock. It was 6:47 and no one was home yet. I would have worked on my other projects, but I wanted something to do at Emily's, so I just walked over to the refrigerator. We have absolutely nothing. So I checked my wallet to make sure I had money, and ordered a pizza.

I sat in the living room waiting for the pizza to come just watching T.V. As I flipped through the channels, I saw a cartoon that looked very familiar. I put the remote down and watched it. I couldn't place my finger on where I had seen this show before. Then some dumb giraffe popped on the screen and I knew exactly where I had seen it. It was the day before John killed himself. He was watching this that morning. Thinking about John made me tear up still, what can I say? He was my brother, and I still can't get over the fact that he's dead even though it's been months. The doorbell rang, so I quickly brushed my hand on my cheek and ran into the kitchen to grab my money. I swung the door open.

"Kim!" A familiar voice screamed as I was hugged vigorously. I shut the door, still unaware of who was attacking me. They pulled back from the hug. It was Sarah.

"Sarah, what are you doing here?" She laughed as she walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"What? Were you expecting someone else?" Just as she said that, the doorbell rang again. I heard her laugh again as I went to the front door and paid for my pizza. I walked into the living room to find Sarah flipping through the T.V.

"Oh, pizza!" I opened the box and put it down on the table. We sat there for a while, not talking and just eating our pizza. Once we were finished, I got up and threw the box out. I cleaned up the mess I made in the kitchen, and then went back in the living room to see Sarah staring at a blank T.V. I plopped my body on the couch next to her, and joined in with the staring at nothing. But as I knew she would, Sarah spoke before I could start thinking about Jared.

"So. I feel like I never see you again ever since I switched out of our lunch," I nodded because I wasn't sure what to say. I liked not having her in my lunch anymore. I think it would be awkward with her and the pack. "Oh, come on Kim. Talk to me,"

"Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind," She rolled her eyes.

"And you didn't bother to tell me, your best friend?" She let out a little chuckle. I laughed too. "No, but I am being serious. Tell me." I looked over to her. She was leaning towards me, and I could tell she was excited to hear about my problems.

"It's nothing," She laughed again.

"It's Jared, isn't it?" I looked at her through my bangs.

"Is it that obvious?" She nodded while laughing. I threw my head back against the couch and groaned.

"So, was it a really bad fight this time?" This time, I laughed.

"We're not in a fight, Sarah. We never are," That was a lie. A very big lie. We fight all the time about the smallest things.

"Liar. Then what is it about?" I could hear the disbelief in her voice as she spoke to me.

"I'm just being the worrywart that I am, that's all," I shrugged my shoulders as if this wasn't that bad, when I knew it was the worst thing in the world.

"You're not going to tell me what it's about, right?" I didn't answer. Jared said the one thing he will not allow me to do is tell Sarah anything about him or the pack. It's supposed to be a secret from everyone not involved. I hated keeping things from my best friend, but since Jared said no, I just can't do it.

"Nope," She sighed next to me. She was rubbing her forehead as if it were about to explode. She got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen without looking back at me. She turned around on her heel.

"I'm sick of this. When you finally decide to tell me about everything, call me. If you're not telling me, don't even try calling 'cause I won't answer." She turned around again and walked out of the house. Great. As if this weekend wasn't enough stress on me, now I get to worry about Sarah too. I held my head in my hands for a while, just thinking about things. I really need to start my projects. How am I supposed to make things right with Sarah? And you guessed it, what will I do if Jared gets hurt?

He told me not to worry about that part, the him being hurt. But how can I not worry about him? I love him, so I can't just say he's going to be O.K. and move on with my day. I can picture myself now, pacing back and forth in Emily's small kitchen nearly ripping my hair out of my skull. I don't do good in these kind of situations, if you couldn't tell.

I didn't hear the door open, but all of the sudden my mom was sitting next to me rubbing my back.

"Honey, you don't need to worry about your father and I. I promise we'll work everything out," I looked up.

"What are you talking about?" Her eyes went wide, and I heard her swallow.

"He didn't tell you?" I shook my head. She cursed under her breath, and my heart started to beat faster.

"He said he already told you. I'm sorry Kimmy. But he and I....we're getting a divorce." My heart stopped. I didn't move.

"Wh-what?" I stuttered as I stumbled to get the small word out of my mouth. She rubbed my back again, but I stood up from the couch. "How could you do this to me?"

"I'm sorry, Kimmy. But we already have it all planned out," I cut her off.

"Don't call me that. I'm not a little girl anymore." She nodded, but continued to talk.

"Your dad is staying here, but we're moving to Chicago with your grandma. You'll love it there," Did she just say Chicago? I can't leave, not now, after everything just got back to normal.

"I'm not leaving. I'm staying with dad," She shook her head at me.

"No, you are coming with me young lady," She stood up from the couch and pointed a finger in my face.

"You can't make me do anything. I'm an adult," Well, not technically, but almost.

"Not yet. Now, stop it with the attitude, Kim. You're coming with me no matter what," I glared at her, but couldn't find the words to speak. I pushed past her shoulder and ran up the stairs. "Kim! Come back down here!" I stopped at the top step and looked down at my mom.

"I love him, mom. You don't know how this feels. I can't just leave him," My words were filled venom.

"Kim. I already lost one child, don't let me lose another," She began to cry. Part of me wanted to go downstairs and hug her, but a bigger part of me made me turn and lock myself in my room. I opened my window first. And then I packed my bags for Emily's house. I was supposed to go over there tonight. But I think they won't mind if I come later. I sank into my bed, facing away from the window. I looked at the clock and it read 10:30. Jared should be here soon. So I laid my body down on my side, just staring at the wall.

I don't know when I began to cry. It was somewhere in between thinking about moving and Jared. I can't leave. I'll do whatever I have to in order to stay. I closed my eyes, and heard my window slide shut. I felt a hot arm wrap around my waist and a cheek pressed against my own. I started crying even more. I heard mummers that sounded like "I love you" and "It's alright", but I couldn't bring myself to answer.

When I finally stopped crying, I flipped onto my other side so that I was facing Jared. His head was too far up for me too look at his face, so I laid there staring blankly at his chest. He brushed my hair with his hand as I tried to calm my breathing down. _You need to tell him now, Kim._ I can't. It'll break his heart.

"Kim, can you please look at me?" He sounded like a little boy. I couldn't help but look up to him. His eyes were glistening with tears. That's just awesome, I hadn't even told him my bad news yet and he's about to cry.

"Jared..." I sound terrible. And I probably look like crap. But I don't care right now.

"I'm sorry," He chuckled as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm such a baby. I just don't like seeing you so upset," I looked back down. I can't do this. If it tell him now, he won't be able to concentrate tomorrow. _You have to tell him now! _I was so consumed in the battle in my head that I had forgotten Jared was there.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking," I smiled weakly. Jared's face hardened. Even in the dark I could see that he was upset.

"Kim, I'll be fine. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that," He rolled onto his back. I scooted closer to him and wrapped my arm around his torso.

"That's not what I was thinking about. Well, of course I was still thinking about you, but there's more." I felt his heart pick up a beat.

"Oh, yeah? Who else were you thinking about then?" I could sense his anger. He was shaking a little, but not violently. I think he trusts me too much to be that mad at me.

"Sarah. She's mad at me again. She wants me to tell her about you," He didn't say anything. We've already had this talk. He doesn't even want me to be friends with Sarah anymore, he says it's too dangerous. But I can't just get up and run out on my best friend. He calls me stubborn, I call myself a loyal friend.

"You can't tell her, Kim. I know you want to, but you just can't." He sighed. I lifted my head to look at him. His eyes were closed and his face was concentrated. I put my head back on his chest.

"I know, I'm not going to tell her. I just don't know what to do about it anymore." There was a silence. I still have to tell him about me moving, but I just can't find the place inside me to do so. "And I'm just nervous about my projects. I have five that I have to do this weekend." His chest rose with laughter. He let out a guffaw, but I place my hand over his mouth.

"Be quiet, my mom's home," He settled himself down, and kissed the top of my head. He was rubbing circles in my back for a while, until he spoke.

"Only my Kim would be worried about homework with blood suckers running around town," I smiled, but swallowed the lump in my throat because I still had to tell him the biggest news.

"Well, you know me," I laughed lightly. I noticed I was still smiling while just laying here. It quickly faded into a frown.

"What else is there?" I lifted my head to see Jared staring at me.

"Nothing. It's...nothing. I don't want to worry you," I placed my head back on his chest, but soon after it slide out from under me and Jared was sitting up in my bed. I pushed myself up and sat next to him.

"Now I'm going to worry even more if you don't tell me," I let out a loud sigh.

"Don't freak, O.K.? I'm sure I can get out it somehow," His eyes widened.

"Kim, just tell me already. I'm going to die of a heart attack soon," I closed my eyes. How do I start this conversation? What do I say?

"Alright, I'm just going to come out and say it." I opened my eyes. Jared was looking down at his hands in his lap.

"Is there someone else?" I laughed.

"Someone else? Jared, that's ridiculous. You know I love you, and only you. Forever and always," He looked up, smiling.

"Well, that's the worst that could happen, so just tell me now."

"Right. My parents are getting a divorce. My mom's moving to Chicago, and my dad's staying here." He didn't move. No emotion came across his face.

"And?" He didn't get it. Of course he didn't get it.

"And... I'm moving with my mom to Chicago," Now I got the reaction I was hoping for. He looked like someone had punched him and knocked the wind out of him. His mouth flew open, and his eyes grew wide. His shaking was the worst I had ever seen.

"You can't move," His voice cracked as he spoke. I moved closer to him and held his face in my hands.

"I can promise you this, I will try everything that I can to stay here. I can never leave you, you're a part of me now. I love you, so much. I didn't want to tell you because I don't want you worrying about me tomorrow. But I had to tell you, I couldn't keep it from you," He didn't speak. He just looked at me with wide, tear fulled eyes. Finally, he let out a loud sob. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him into me. Two minutes later, he pulled back and looked through my eyes into my soul.

"When do you leave?" It seemed as if he wasn't thinking when he spoke, like it just came out of his mouth.

"I don't know, I just found out today."

"Oh, O.K. We should probably get you to Sam's." He got up from my bed and walked over to my window.

"Hey, wait. That's all you have to say about this? Nothing else?" He turned back to me with wet cheeks.

"Kim. I don't know what to say to you right now. I can't think. I...I'll just meet you at Sam's." And with that he was out of my window and gone. I grabbed my bags off of the floor, and whipped my door open. I stormed down the stairs, hearing my mom scream at me but not understanding a word she said.

"I'm going to Emily's for the weekend!" I yelled behind me as I opened the front door and slammed it shut. I rushed to my car, and quickly drove off into the night.

I got there within five minutes. Jared's, Quil's, and Sam's cars were all there, which meant everyone was over. Great, they all get to see me blow up at Jared. I slammed my car door shut as I walked behind my car to grab my bags out of the trunk, but someone was already there.

"I'm sorry, Kim. I just needed to cool off," Jared didn't look up to me as he spoke from under the hood of my car. He had my bags in his hands, but he still stayed under, probably hiding from me.

"I know. I was just...nevermind," He straightened up, and instantly grew two feet taller than me.

"Tell me," He dropped my bags on the ground, and started walking towards me with open arms. I ducked out of the way, and ran up the front steps of the small yellow house that I would call home for the next weekend. I heard Jared sigh behind me, and as I looked back to him he was leaning down picking up my bags from the driveway.

"Sorry," I said as I hunched my shoulders over to hide from him.

"You're going to tell me later. You do know that right?" I nodded. My throat was coarse because I was about to cry. "Good," He stepped in front of me and held the door open. I walked inside, still looking down at my feet. When I looked back up, everyone who was sitting on the couch, as in the whole pack, was staring at me and Jared. Stupid inhuman hearing. They probably heard the conversation outside, and they got worried.

You see, when someone joins the pack, we become a little closer to each other and form a family like circle of friends. So you can guess that all of the guys see me as a little sister, and they love me, just as I love them. But it can get pretty annoying, like right now. Seth was probably the most worried. He and I had become really good friends. He is such a sweet kid, and I know his imprint will be the luckiest girl in the world. (Besides me, of course.)

Everyone looked like they were about to say something about the awkwardness, so I spoke instead.

"Hey, guys." They all shut their mouths and nodded or waved to me. I turned on my heel and walked into the kitchen, noticing that Jared wasn't following me. Leah, Emily, and Claire were all in the kitchen. Claire was sitting in her high chair, Emily was cooking something at the stove, and Leah looked like she wanted to kill herself. I sat down across from Leah and she didn't even look up. Emily looked over her shoulder, and smiled at me.

"Oh! Look who finally showed up!" She laughed as she tried to not make it obvious that she needed help. I glanced to Leah, who still hadn't moved a single muscle in her body, so I stood up to help her.

"Need some help there?" She laughed, but nodded. I took the empty bowl from her hands and she instantly relaxed. I placed it in the sink that was already full of dirty dishes. "Doing a lot of cooking lately, Em?" She quickly looked at me, and leaned in closer.

"I tell Sam that I'm O.K., but I'm really not. So, cooking is a new found alternative that helps me think about other things." Hm, maybe I should give it a try.

"Cool. Mind if I help?" She laughed at me, but pointed to the fridge.

"Grab some apples from the top drawer," I nodded, and walked over to the fridge.

We spent a couple of hours cooking. Leah had taken Claire to bed after the first twenty minutes. All of the guys left about an hour ago, except Jared and Sam. I wished everyone good luck as they left. And I'm not going to lie, I got a little red faced when I said goodbye to Seth. I hoped that he wouldn't get hurt. Of course I would be hurt if anyone got hurt, but if it was him I would be crushed. Emily and I made apple pie, brownies, and cookies. Sam and Jared were still in the living room, and they hadn't come in to check on us at all. Emily and I didn't talk much. Neither of us wanted to go to bed, so we just sat at the kitchen table eating cookies.

"So, what happened with Jared?" Emily spoke, and made me jump in my seat. I was so concentrated on counting how many chocolate chips were in my cookie that I forgot she was there.

"What do you mean?" I cocked my head to the side. She rolled her eyes.

"We all know something is up. Jared came storming through the door after you looking pretty upset," I sunk back into my chair.

"Emily, I just don't know what to do anymore." Her eyes widened, and I noticed she was looking behind me. I turned around in my chair to see Jared and Sam standing there.

"You don't know what to do about what?" My eyes popped out, and I turned to look at Emily again.

"We'll just go to bed now," She said, standing up and running off into her room. Sam followed her, not even saying one word. That little witch. Jared picked me up, and within seconds, I was sitting back down on his lap.

"That's better, now we can be alone," He smiled at me, but I could see something holding him back.

"Jared. Talk to me. I want to know what's wrong," He laughed sarcastically.

"What's wrong? On top of the fact that I have to go fight vampires tomorrow because of that stupid Swan girl, I have to worry about you leaving me." His voice lowered when he said the last part. He looked down at our entwined hands and started rubbing small circles in the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I'm not leaving." His head shot up. He looked confused, but at the same time delighted.

"You said you had to move with your mom," His voice was still low and vulnerable.

"Well, I do. But I don't want to. I'm sure I can get out of it," His head dropped again, and his shoulders slouched forward.

"You're not positive though, right? I mean, as of right now, you're moving?" I could hear the pain in his voice. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he looked up to me with wide eyes.

"Yes," He let out a loud sob at my small word, and looked away from me. "Hey, stop. Look at me," He shook his head. "Please?" With as much pain in my voice possible, he listened to me and turned his head.

"Let's take this one step at a time, O.K.? Tomorrow you have to go fight off vampires, and then we'll talk about this more when you come back," I added the last part for my own benefit. He mumbled something, but I couldn't understand it. "Jared, I can't hear you."

"I just want you to know, that no matter what happens to me, I love you." I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. You'll be fine, I believe in you. You'll be gone for a few days, and you'll come back and everything will be back to normal," He snorted.

"But nothing's going to be normal again. You're moving away from me."

"Do you think I'm doing this because I want to?" He didn't answer. "You do, don't you? God, how many times do I have to say I love you for you to get it?" I was screaming slightly.

"I know you love me, and I love you."

"Then what's the problem here?" He laughed a little, but hugged me close to his chest. He didn't say anything, instead he just sat there, hugging me in his lap. "What's wrong with you?" He chuckled again.

"Nothing. I'm done being a baby. I have to leave soon, so I just wanted to hold you,"He got up from the seat, leaving me to sit on the cold, hard wood. My mood instantly changed. He has to leave? Why can't he just stay behind and let everyone else go? I forgot about all of my other worries, and let Jared become the center of my universe.

"Don't leave." I got up, and threw my arms around his neck. I cried into his shoulder. He grabbed hold of my arms, and took them off of his body.

"I have to. I promise I'll be back before you know it, and everything will be fine, just like you said." He smiled weakly to show me that it would be O.K., but I could sense the hesitation.

"You promise?" I wiped the tears from my cheeks, and looked up to see him smiling at me.

"Didn't I just say that I promised?" I hit his chest, but laughed too.

"I love you, Kimberly Connweller." He rubbed my cheek with his hand. I sucked in a deep breath of air.

"I love you more, Jared Nahl." We both smiled like idiots as he pulled me into his chest.

"Now that is not humanly possible." I grabbed a hold on his hair, and pulled him down to kiss me. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his chest as he moved back to set me down on the counter. He parted from my lips, only to start kissing down my neck, leaving a warm trail. I let out a slight moan, and Jared looked down at me with black eyes.

"I have to go now, or else I won't stop." He looked disappointed in himself. As long as he stays with me, I'll be fine.

"Don't stop then." His eyes grew wide, but then they went back down to normal.

"Don't tempt me, Kim. And lying to make me stay isn't very nice either," He back away, but didn't turn to leave yet.

"Sorry, I thought it was worth a shot." He laughed, and I jumped down from the counter.

"I better go get some sleep." He looked down at our unevenly proportioned bare feet. I smiled at them, and looked up to see him smiling too.

"I'm holding you to your promise." He laughed at me, but stepped closer and held onto my hair. He kissed my forehead, and leaned down to whisper into my ear.

"I'll be back soon."For the third time today, he was gone in a flash, and I was left alone. I stood there, looking at the closed front door, holding myself together. I knew that if I tried to move, I would fall apart and cry all night. So I stood there until the sun rose in the morning. I watched Sam sneak out of his room and to the front door where he left to join Jared in the fight. My Jared.


	17. Chapter 18

SOOOOO, it's been a while, and I apologize deeply. But, here's the next/last? chapter. I want to thank you all for sticking with me through the rough patch of school, cheer, etc. And I ask of you all two things:

1) Should this be the last chapter? Or should I write an epilogue or some more chapters?

2) Who should my next imprint story be on? (Embry, Seth, etc.)

Again, thanks for the support. As always, read & review!

* * *

3:00 am

I rolled onto my back, and stared up at the ceiling. I whipped my head to the small, cheap alarm clock that read 3:17 AM. It's been two days already, and we had heard nothing. Nothing. It's kind of ridiculous. They can't send the simplest message to ease me of these nerves?

If you asked me what I hated the most in the world two days ago, my answer would be my mom. But that's changed. Waiting is the worst feeling. I don't know anything about Jared and how he is. The majority of my time I'm either pacing back and forth in the living room or baking with Emily. The kitchen usually doesn't get messy because Emily's an OCD freak, but you should see it right now. There's crap everywhere. Empty bowls are over-flowing the sink, and twelve full plates of chocolate chip cookies are sitting on the counter.

I sat up straight on the small bed. I ran my hands through my hair, and let out a loud sigh. I stood up, just to fall back over from a dizzy head. It seems that when I'm not with Jared I'm a lot more prone to sickness. I've had this headache the whole time he's been gone, and nothing will make it go away.

I walked out of the door, and down the hallway. I could hear the T.V., so I knew that Emily was up too. Just as I thought, I saw her sitting on the couch with a plate of cookies in one hand and a phone in the other. I sat down next to her, but she didn't even break her gaze from the show.

"You know, at three in the morning I can guarantee you that they won't be calling." I laughed as I grabbed the phone from her hand and reached over to place it back on the receiver. I sank back into my spot, and looked next to me to see her glaring at me.

"I know. But I just...I don't know, Kim. I'm such a mess. I can't even sleep." Her usual uptight structure crumbled under her as she sank into the couch and turned off the T.V.

"I'm with you on that one." The whole time I've been trapped inside this house I've been trying to get the slightest laugh out of Emily, but nothing happened. I haven't even seen her smile.

"So, you want to bake?" I looked over to her with raised eyebrows, but she was still staring at the now blank screen.

"Don't you think we have enough of food to feed thousands?" She shook her head no. I stood up from the couch and held my hand out to her. "Alright, then let's bake!"

8:00 am

"Kim! Emiwy says to wake up!" I rubbed my eyes, to see a very energetic Claire jumping up and down on my bed. After baking with Emily last night for three hours, I fell asleep like a baby. But of course, the one time I actually fall asleep, Emily sends Claire in to wake me up.

"Ok, I'm up!" I jumped up, and stood next to the bed. I held my arms out to Claire, who giggled and jumped into them. I ran out into the hallway with her in my arms, and saw Emily sitting at the table with a coffee mug. I placed Claire down, who looked at me with big eyes.

"What's wrong Aunty Kim?" I laughed. I don't know why she got the idea that I was her aunt, but I kind of liked it the sound of it.

"Nothing. Why don't you go pick out a movie for us to watch?" Her eyes widened with pleasure and she nodded and she ran into the living room. I walked over to Emily, who looked up to me and smiled vacantly as I sat down across from her.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." The smile quickly faded from her face, as I knew it would.

"Well, excuse me for trying to get some sleep."

"Sorry about that. I just don't know how you fell asleep. I was tossing and turning around even after we baked." She looked down to her hands as if she were embarrassed.

"It's OK, Emily." I reached my hand across the table and grabbed onto hers. "Sam's fine. I promise." She looked up with teary eyes.

"You think so?" She sniffled.

"I know so. Now come on, they'll be home soon and this will all be behind us." She smiled genuinely this time, and was about to say something when Claire came running in.

"Aunty Kim! Can we watch Finding Nemo?" I looked to Emily, and we both laughed.

"Of course. Why don't you start it with Emily while I shower really quick?" She nodded, and ran back into the living room. I got up from the chair, and started to walk towards my small room.

"Hey, Kim?" I turned around to see Emily still sitting in her chair.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. I needed that."

"No problem." I smiled, and turned around again to take a shower.

10:00 am

"I love Dory!" Claire yelled from under her blankets.

"Who doesn't love Dory?!" Emily laughed as Claire popped her head out. She had wide eyes, and she looked scared.

"What's wrong?" I panicked. I love Claire as if she were my own child. Before everything with Jared, I never wanted kids. But now I'm starting to think that he would be the best dad ever. He loves babysitting Claire whenever Quil can't. I just don't think I'd be the best mom.

"I have to go potty." She whipped the blankets off of her head and ran out of the room. Emily and I laughed together.

"Don't you just love little kids?" I asked. She nodded, but then did a double take and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Jared told me you didn't want kids." I nodded slightly.

"I didn't....but I think now I do. I just think he really wants to be a dad, and I kind of want to be a mom. Well, not soon. But maybe in the future."

"Good for you." She faked a smile again. I really don't get why she's so nervous. I mean sure, I'm pretty bad, but she's a wreck. She can't function without Sam.

Claire came back into the room and sat in Emily's lap.

"Where's Qwil?" Emily looked at me, then back down to Claire. We didn't tell her about the whole vampire-werewolf fight. She knew about Quil being a werewolf, but we didn't want to freak her out about him being in danger. Why couldn't anyone think about this with me?

"He....uh...." Emily was at a loss for words, so I cut in.

"He and all of the boys went on a camping trip. We don't know when they'll be back, but it should be soon." She just nodded, and jumped off of Emily's lap and ran over to her coloring books that were sitting on the floor.

"Thanks." Emily whispered as she stood up from the couch and went to go sit next to Claire. I went over by them too, and started coloring in her Curious George book. They say coloring helps relieve stress, and let me tell you, it really does.

1:00 pm

"Wow, that looks pretty bad Emily." I laughed as I looked down at her picture. She didn't stay inside the lines, and if you didn't know she drew it, you would probably think it was done by a five-year-old.

"Maybe I should stick to cooking." She frowned as she grabbed the paper out of my hands.

"You should. Did you not learn to color inside the lines in first grade?" I held my stomach as I laughed. We've been having a good time coloring pictures while Claire was passed out on the couch.

"I skipped first grade, so ha." She stood up and started cleaning up everything that had accumulated there over the past two days. I'm not going to lie, we made a pretty big mess in her house, and I felt bad. So I stood up and started to help her clean.

"How did you skip first grade?" I asked as I was throwing away some of the garbage out of the living room.

"I'm not really sure. I guess I was just super smart." She walked away and started cleaning mountain of dishes. I walked back into the living room and started to clean everything up.

3:00 pm

"I think we did a pretty good job." I held out my hand for a high five. She slapped my hand, and sat down at the kitchen table. I sat next to her, and Claire came running in.

"You're awake!" Emily smiled and lifted Claire onto her lap.

"Yupp! And the house is cwean!" I laughed. I love little kids and their incorrect pronunciation of words.

"Yeah, Kim and I cleaned while you were sleeping." Emily tickled Claire's stomach, making her scream with laughter. She somehow managed to escape from Emily's arms and ran into the hallway. Emily looked at me laughing, and then ran after Claire.

I wish I could be as good as Emily is with kids. I really want one now because of Claire, but I feel like every other little kid hates me. I've never really been good with kids. John used to make fun of me because this one time when my aunt had a baby, everyone was taking turns holding him. And he was fine with everyone else, but then when I held him, he started wailing.

I let out a sigh. John, I miss him. If he was here everything would be so much easier. I feel like part of me is missing. He was my best friend, and I could tell him anything.

"You can't get me!" Claire yelled behind her as she zoomed past, quickly followed by Emily. They ran into the living room, and I looked over to see Emily beaming with laughter as she tickled Claire on the couch. Maybe she's just born to be a mother, and maybe I'm not.

Emily picked Claire up from the couch, and walked into the kitchen with her on her shoulders.

"Hey, Kim. Have you seen Claire? I can't find her anywhere." Emily looked around the kitchen, while Claire was laughing the whole time on her shoulders.

"I'm up here siwwy!" Emily looked up, and mocked surprise as she let her down from her shoulders and hugged her.

"Oh, there you are! I thought I lost you!" Claire laughed as Emily set her down on the floor. Claire came and sat down in the chair next to me. Emily sat across from me. It was quiet for a couple of minutes. I just sat there thinking about Jared.

"So." I said. I couldn't take the silence.

"Want to make dinner for the boys?" Emily asked with a glowing face.

"Yes!"

"Sure." Claire and I spoke at the same time. I laughed as I stood up and walked over to the oven to start cooking. Knowing Emily, we would be cooking a meal.

6:30 pm

I put the spoon in my mouth, and was instantly awakened with flavor. The sauce was so rich and delicious. I closed my eyes, and inhaled deeply.

"I don't know how you make such good food." I turned to Emily, who was smirking as she cut up bread and placed it into a basket. She walked over to the table, and found a spot to place it. We had cooked way too much. There was pasta, beef, salad, chicken, and a bunch of little side dishes. The table was full of bowls and plates, so I had no idea where we were going to sit and eat. Maybe outside? I looked to the window to check the weather, and saw more cars than usual in the driveway.

"Emily."_ I_ could hear the stressed tone in my voice, so when she looked at me she knew something was wrong. I nodded my head to the window, and she stood on her tiptoes to look out. I followed her gaze to see indistinguishable figures carrying someone. Oh. _Oh God._ Please not Jared, please not Jared. Emily looked down to Claire, and if it was possible, more panic spread onto her face. I grabbed her hand, and raced her into the bedroom.

"What's wrong Aunty Kim?" Claire was scared, I could tell.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong."

"Then why are we in here?" O.K., right now I hated whoever made this kid so smart at such a young age.

"Because we have to. The boys are home...and...we're hiding from them." God, I hated lying to her. Her face lite up, and she smiled as she ran into the closet to hide from Quil.

"Hide Kim!" She yelled at me before she shut the door behind her.

"I'm just going to sit on the bed and wait for Jared, O.K.?" I heard her giggle, so I'm taking that as a yes.

I looked down to my feet and my hands. My palms were the sweatiest they've ever been. My head was spinning with different thoughts. I wanted to run out into the living room and see if Jared was hurt. But I had to stay here with Claire. I couldn't just leave her in there by herself.

My heart started pounding faster than normal. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to see if Jared was O.K., but I couldn't. My whole world was flipping and changing, and I couldn't concentrate on anything. I want to see Jared. I _need_ to see Jared. A loud sob ripped through my chest, and I held my chest. Even if I tried to get up right now, I couldn't. The door opened, and I looked up desperately, only to see Quil.

"I found her!" He yelled behind him as he rushed over to the closet and whipped the door open to find a smiling Claire. He picked her up in her arms, and spun her around in circles. _Go, now. Go find him. _Jared. My mind started running again, and I started crying even more than before. I couldn't move, but I needed to get up and find him.

Then, as if God was listening to my thoughts, I heard the best voice in my life.

"Kim." I looked up to see Jared smiling in the doorway. I jumped up and ran over to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and I felt him hug my hips tightly than ever before. I cried deeply into his shoulder, and he rubbed my back and whispered in my ear.

"Shhhhh. It's O.K. Please don't cry." This, of course, only made me cry more. I felt him laugh a little, but I don't care. It feels so good to be in his arms. Imagine being away from him for a whole week. I would die.

He picked me up bridal style and walked me over to the bed. He sat down with me in his lap, and I cried into his shoulder for a good ten minutes. I don't even know what set it off. I guess I was just holding it all in this weekend, and seeing him made me go crazy. I wiped me wet nose on my sleeve, and laughed at how pathetic I was acting.

"I missed you. But I promised I'd come back, and here I am." Jared spoke. I looked up to him. He was smiling like an idiot. I smiled back. I probably looked just as dumb as he did, but isn't that what love does to you?

"That would be the biggest understatement of the year." We both laughed. I linked our hands together. "I missed you too."

Jared took the first move and leaned in to kiss me. It wasn't the best, it seemed too desperate and forced. I think you'd expect that from both of us though. It softened and sweetened, and Jared pulled away smiling. I pushed him down roughly on the bed, and he laughed as I laid on top of him.

I pressed my body against his, and kissed down his neck. He was shaking slightly, and I smiled as I moved up to his lips. I kissed him, and soon after, he rolled me over so that he was hovering over me. One hand was under my back, holding his weight, and the other was rubbing circles on my hip. His tongue licked the bottom of my lips and begged for an entrance, and I let him in.

We'd never really talked about doing it. _This. _I just told him that I wasn't ready, and that was the truth. Before today, the furthest we've gone is just some deep kissing. We'd never made-out yet, so that would make this was the first time. But now, with the desperation in the air, I really wanted it. I was so ready. I started over thinking too much, and Jared could tell because he parted from my lips and settled down by just kissing my cheek and rolling onto his back next to me. I was kind of disappointed that he stopped, but thankful at the same time because if he didn't, then I wouldn't either. And I didn't want to do it now, at Emily's house.

"Kim, you need to stop thinking so much." He propped his body propped his body up by putting an arm under his head. He was just staring at me as I was thinking. Do I tell him that I'm ready? Or do I just surprise him?

"I know. I was just thinking that..." I smiled. I looked over to see him smiling too.

"That was the most amazing experience on this Earth?" I laughed.

"Well, yes it was. But that wasn't _exactly_ what I was thinking about."

"Then what were you thinking about?" He leaned closer to me and started kissing down my neck. I laughed, but looked over to the door to see Seth standing in the doorway with and open mouth. I pushed Jared off of me, and sat up on the edge of the bed.

"Hi, Seth." He closed his mouth, and swallowed hard. "How much of that did you see?" I asked, while both of us turned red.

"Uh....pretty much all of it." Jared sat up next to me now, and put an arm around me.

"Hey dude. What's up with interrupting us?" I looked down at my hands, and back up to a red-faced Seth.

"Nothing. Sam wanted to talk to you. And Emily made dinner so..." He paused, then nodded, and walked away. I let out a breath, and looked to see Jared laughing. I hit his chest lightly so that I didn't hurt myself.

"Sorry, you should have seen your face." He mocked my face, which made me laugh. I stood up from the bed, but then remembered seeing someone hurt.

"Jared. Who got hurt?" He stood up too, and started walking to the door. He stopped once I asked because he probably forgot about it too.

"Jake." He said really quietly and rushed out of the door. I followed behind him to see a naked Jake being carried up the stairs by Paul and Sam. I blushed, and turned around to walk into the kitchen. Emily and Leah were sitting there biting their nails. I could understand why Emily was, but I didn't expect Leah to be so nervous.

"What happened to him?" If I hadn't spoken, they probably wouldn't have known I was there.

"He was distracted by Bella. Stupid, dumb teenage boys." Leah said as she got up from the table and walked into the living room. I sat next to Emily, and started rubbing her back.

"He'll be fine." Her head shot up, and I could see her holding back the tears in her eyes.

"Of course he will. Carlisle's coming over soon to fix him up." My eyes widened.

"Cullen? As in the vampire?" Emily nodded her head, and then looked back up to me.

"Oh, you don't have to worry. He wouldn't hurt a soul. Well...nevermind." She laughed at her own joke. But then cut her laughter short.

"Have you seen him yet?" She shook her head. I would be dying if I were her. But Sam's the alpha and he needs to control the pack before he gets to talk to Emily.

"Sam!" I yelled out. With their hearing, they could probably hear me from a mile away. Within seconds, he was standing in the doorway with a worried expression on his face. "She's all yours." I got up from the table and walked past Sam, who nodded at me with thanks, and then walked over to the crying Emily.

I went into the living room, to see everyone now sitting there except Embry, Quil, and Jake. I found a seat next to Jared. I looked around the room. I felt bad for everyone. One of their brothers was hurt, and I couldn't care less. I was just happy about Jared being safe. I grabbed Jared's hand, and squeezed it in reassurance. He smiled weakly at me, but then his face hardened. I was about to ask when the door opened and Carlisle walked in followed by someone I had never seen before.

"Where is he?" Carlisle asked.

"Upstairs." Seth said. He was the only one that was actually on a good level with the Cullens. That's one of the reasons I love him. He sees how ridiculous this whole feud thing is. The man that I've never seen before stayed behind and stood by the door. He was big, tall, and scary. I was staring at him when he looked at me and smiled. He waved a little, and I smiled back.

"I'm Emmett." He said. Everyone else looked up at him, and I laughed.

"I'm Kim." Jared placed his arm around me and pulled me closer. Emmett rolled his eyes. I smiled, but looked away. Why was I being so friendly with a vampire?

We sat there, not speaking, for about two hours. Emmett was called upstairs by Carlisle, and Embry and Quil were kicked downstairs. Every so often you heard Jake scream from upstairs, and everyone would wince. We eventually ate dinner, but still there was no talking. The only who spoke was Seth when he thanked us for making dinner.

It had been three hours when Carlisle and Emmett finally came back downstairs. Everyone stiffened as he came down and stood in front of everyone.

"He should be fine. I had to reset some bones, but your kind heals fast so it shouldn't be more than a week until he's all ready to go." Sam stood up from the couch, followed by everyone else. He walked over to him, and shook his hand. They had a quiet conversation that only me and Emily couldn't hear, and then they left without a goodbye.

No one spoke. Everyone sat back down, and then just stared into space. I glanced at the clock, and saw that it was 7:15 already. I told my mom I'd be home by 7:30. I hated to be the one that spoke, but I had to.

"I'm sorry you guys, but I have to go." Everyone let out loud sighs. Jared stood up from the couch and I followed him into the room. I could hear them having conversations behind me as I walked into the small bedroom. Jared was folding my blanket, so I walked over and picked up my bag. He looked scornfully at me.

"What did I do?" I dropped the bag and held my hands up.

"You don't think I'd let you carry your own bag, did you?" I let out a little laugh.

"I'm not paralyzed. I can function properly." He picked up my bag and walked out into the hallway. I was trailing behind him, and I could hear him laughing as he let me say goodbye to everyone. Emily started crying when she hugged me. I teared up too, but I'm not really sure why.

Jared drove me home in silence. We just held each others hand. He pulled into my driveway after driving for only five minutes. I waited until he opened my door with my bag already in his hand. He walked me up to my doorstep, and placed my bag on the ground. He cupped my cheeks with his hands, and looked deep into my eyes.

"You don't know what you do to me, Kim." I smirked, and leaned up to kiss him. It was the perfect way to end my weekend. The perfect moment with the perfect boyfriend. I pulled away, and leaned back on my feet. I reached down to pick up my bag, then walked over to the door and opened it. I turned around to see Jared standing there, smiling as he looked at me.

"I love you." I whispered as I walked through the door and shut it behind me. I smiled and leaned my back against the cold, wood door. He doesn't know what he does to me.


	18. Chapter 19

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through this story! Enjoy this epilogue and leave some comments as to how I can change things in the future. I love you all! I'll be writing a new story soon!

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"UGH!" The door shut right in my face. I let out a loud sigh, and rested my forehead on the door.

"You'll have to come out of there eventually you know." I got no answer. I pushed myself off of the door and knocked lightly. "Please open the door. I want to talk about it." I heard a noise from inside, but still got no answer. "Alright, I'll be downstairs if you want me." I walked slowly to the staircase. I took each step on at a time, still listening for the door to open. It didn't, so when I got down to the ground I was disappointed. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the round table. I put my head in my hands. Why is my life so difficult? I mean, why me? I heard the front door open and shut, but I didn't change position. I felt the warm presence next to me and I instantly lightened up, but not by much.

"What happened this time?" Jared asked while rubbing my back. I looked up and smiled. No matter how long we've been together, I still get butterflies whenever I see him. I then remembered what had happened, and went back to being mad.

"What do you think?" I stood up from the chair and went to the stove to cook dinner for him. I grabbed a pot from the drawer and stood over the sink to fill it with water. I started crying somewhere along the line thinking about John. Why is everything so difficult? Why can't life just be easy for once in my life? Jared wrapped his arms around my waist and I dropped the pot in the sink and started to sob. Jared tried to calm me down, but nothing worked. I just let out this whole year's anger and frustration out. Jared lifted me up, shut off the sink, and walked me over to the couch. He set me down, and walked over to the sink to continue dinner where I left off. He knew better by now than to bother me with anything. After about five minutes, I was starting to settle down, so I stood up and went over to help him.

"Sorry." I said shyly as I reached past him and into the cabinet to grab soup.

"Don't be sorry. I know how stressful this is on you." He came over and started massaging my shoulders. I stood motionless for a couple of minutes, just taking in everything. I finally stepped out of his arms and started to work on dinner again.

"Can you go check on him? I know you can relate to him more. Plus, he likes you better anyway." I said the last part to myself, but of course, Jared heard it.

"You know he loves you just as much as he loves me, Kim." I shook my head as I laughed at his stupid comment.

"O.K., that's a lie." I opened a drawer and grabbed a can opener. I used it to open the soup can.

"Kim, stop. Of course he loves you. How can he not?"

"Cause I'm a terrible mo-" I got cut off but a loud popping sound from upstairs. I looked at Jared with wide eyes, who had the same expression on his face. We both ran upstairs, me trailing behind just a little bit. I took each step three at a time, and ran into the bathroom. Jared had kicked the door down already. I ran into Jared as he stood looking at whatever that I couldn't see. I pushed him out of my way, and saw a broken wall. I could see into the backyard. I was about to speak when I got cut off again by a loud howl.

"Jared. Go. I'll call Sam." Jared's eyes flashed to mine for a brief second, and then he was off. And even for the second, I could see the fear in his eyes. I ran into our bedroom and grabbed the phone. I dialed the familiar number and waited as it rang three times. Finally, Hannah picked it up.

"Hello?" She said in her typical teenage voice.

"Hannah, put Sam on the phone now." I guess she could hear the tensity in my voice because he was on within a matter of two seconds.

"What's wrong?" Sam sounded worried.

"It's John. He phased. Jared went after him, and I just...I don't know what to do." I let out a cry. What if he gets hurt? He doesn't know what he's doing.

"I'll go find him. You don't have to worry about it Kim." And then the line went dead. I hung the phone back onto the receiver. I sat down on the bed. What is wrong with me? Why am I so melodramatic? I got up, not wanting to think about anything, and headed downstairs to finish cooking Jared's soup, even though I knew neither of them would be home tonight. But cooking had become a skill of mine over all of the years that Jared was still phasing.

It's been three hours. I sat at the kitchen table just waiting up for someone to walk through the door. I already ate Jared's soup out of nerves. I just sat there playing with the spoon. After a while, I just decided to go to bed. Nothing that bad can happen, right?

I think I fell asleep pretty fast. I was so exhausted from everything that was happening right now. Jared's _this_ close to losing his job. I barely get enough money from working at the hospital. And now all of this is happening. I just don't know what to do anymore. But with that said, I fell asleep like a baby.

I woke up to the sun rising. I usually wake up that early because the light bothers me. I rolled over to see Jared laying next to me. He was sleeping, and I was about to wake him. But then I realized that he was out late and probably wanted to sleep in. I got up slowly from the bed so that I wouldn't disturb him. He rolled over, but didn't wake up. I waked quietly out of the room, and shut the door behind me. I tip-toed down the hall, and opened John's door. Surprisingly, he was awake and sitting up in his bed. His head snapped up, and he looked at me with dead eyes, and then back down at his hands. I walked over and sat down next to him and wrapped my arm around his back.

"I'm so sorry." He said very quietly.

"If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I've been so rude and mean to you this past year." He shook his head as I spoke.

"No, I have. I've been acting angry because of this whole phasing thing. I thought dad was the only one I could talk to about this all, but last night he talked to me. And I see now that I'm wrong. You've already been through this, and that fact totally skipped my mind. I'm sorry. I really am." He looked ashamedly down to his hands again. I laughed. For some reason he reminded me of my John when he did this. He looked up at me with confused eyes.

"Sorry. You remind me of my brother when you do that." I smiled at him.

"Is that a good thing...?" I laughed again.

"Yes. I loved him so much, John. He was my favorite person at one point in my life. I looked up to him." John smiled as he looked back into my past with me.

"Oh, cool." This was awkward. He didn't care about me, he just wanted to say sorry.

"Listen. I've been acting mean lately because...your father and I have been having financial issues and this isn't exactly what we need right now. But it's fine. It's what you are, and there's nothing we can do about it. And I love you, so please don't think that I don't. I'm always here for you no matter what." He smiled as he reached over to me and hugged me.

"I love you, mom." I smiled widely as I hugged him back.

"I love you too, John." I pulled away from him and stood up from his bed. I started walking towards the door, when John called me back.

"Mom?" I turned on my heel and looked to see him laying on his bed now.

"What's wrong?" I got the worried mom look down pact, which always makes him laugh.

"Nothing. Can I skip school tomorrow?" I laughed.

"I'll think about it." I turned back around and walked out of his room. I smiled as I walked down the hall. Even though everything wasn't perfect, it was getting better. My world was suddenly changing again, and I actually was getting used to it for once. I opened my door quietly to see Jared sitting up in bed. I skipped over and layed down next to him, curling up on his chest.

"What happened to you?" He sounded tired.

"Nothing. Go back to bed." He didn't need me to tell him twice. Within seconds, he was passed out. Life was good. I sighed, and quickly drifted off into sleep.


End file.
